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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. mate — a partner
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. cold — an illness
  7. band — a music group
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. saw — the tool
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. stock — shares
  13. vault — a safe
  14. band — a ring
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mate — to breed
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cell — in biology
  19. stock — goods
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cell — a phone

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