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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 116 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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. stand — to bear
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — there
  9. stock — goods
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — a trace
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. present — the time now
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — to eat
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. straw — a straw man

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