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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. rule — government
  5. cold — an illness
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cold — not warm
  13. land — to come down
  14. rush — hurry
  15. tube — a container
  16. land — ground
  17. rule — a law
  18. land — a country
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. wound — an injury
  22. stock — goods
  23. stock — shares
  24. tube — the underground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com