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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 116 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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. stock — goods
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. rush — hurry
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bound — certain
  11. last — finally
  12. bound — tied together
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. stock — shares
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. last — final
  19. bound — obliged
  20. stem — to come from
  21. cold — not warm
  22. last — to go on
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. bowl — to roll

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