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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 120 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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cold — an illness
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. chip — for betting
  5. row — a line
  6. face — to point toward
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. present — there
  11. present — a gift
  12. cold — not warm
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. face — part of the head
  17. stock — goods
  18. face — to confront
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. present — the time now
  22. stock — shares
  23. chip — to eat
  24. row — to paddle

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