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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 124 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. stock — shares
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. fine — all right
  8. fork — in a road
  9. staff — employees
  10. content — happy
  11. staff — employees
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. content — the amount
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. degree — an amount
  16. fine — high quality
  17. stock — goods
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. degree — from a university
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. staff — a stick
  23. degree — temperature
  24. lie — to recline

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