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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. mate — a friend
  5. cold — an illness
  6. game — wild animals
  7. current — of water
  8. board — to get on
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cold — not warm
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. mate — a partner
  14. stock — shares
  15. game — a match
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — a committee
  18. mate — to breed
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. current — electric
  22. current — happening now
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. stock — goods

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