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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. lean — to bend
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stock — goods
  8. object — an aim
  9. bat — the animal
  10. object — a thing
  11. lean — thin
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. mate — to breed
  14. stock — shares
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. mate — a partner
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. pitcher — a jug

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