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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. field — for sport
  3. spell — letters
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bound — obliged
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bound — tied together
  10. field — farmland
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. bear — the animal
  13. field — a subject
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. face — part of the head
  16. bound — certain
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stock — shares
  19. stock — goods
  20. face — to confront
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. spell — magic

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