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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. clip — for paper
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. fine — all right
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. clip — a video
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. stock — shares
  12. fine — high quality
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. dip — to sink
  16. hand — in cards
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. hand — help
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wake — a trail
  23. stock — goods
  24. rush — hurry

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