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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. stock — goods
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. stock — shares
  8. wake — a trail
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bear — the animal
  12. spring — the season
  13. cold — an illness
  14. spring — of water
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. pitch — completely
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. spring — a coil
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. bear — the animal
  24. mine — for digging

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