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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. cold — an illness
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. pass — a permit
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. stock — shares
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. last — to go on
  9. file — a tool
  10. last — final
  11. stock — goods
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. game — a match
  14. cold — not warm
  15. swing — to play on
  16. file — a document
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. file — a line of people
  20. last — finally
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stock — a soup base

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