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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stock — goods
  4. content — the amount
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. swing — music
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cold — an illness
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rest — what's left
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. rest — a break
  18. swing — to play on
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. rest — what's left
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. stock — shares
  24. content — happy

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