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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. rash — a series
  3. rash — hasty
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chip — for betting
  6. can — a tin
  7. tear — to rip
  8. can — a tin
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to click
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. can — to be able to
  13. chest — a box
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. stock — shares
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chest — of your body
  18. cold — an illness
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. stock — goods
  21. chip — to eat
  22. tear — from crying
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chest — of your body

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