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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. cold — an illness
  4. stock — goods
  5. craft — a skill
  6. stock — shares
  7. swing — in golf
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. cold — not warm
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. craft — boats
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. swing — to play on
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. kid — to tease
  22. swing — music
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. kid — child

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