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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. ground — crushed
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. stock — shares
  8. ground — a position
  9. chip — to eat
  10. stock — goods
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. perch — the fish
  13. last — to go on
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. last — finally
  16. ground — the earth
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. chip — for betting
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. last — final
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. cold — an illness

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