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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. drill — a practice
  4. fine — high quality
  5. bat — the animal
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. saw — the tool
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cold — not warm
  14. drill — army training
  15. mug — a cup
  16. fine — all right
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cold — an illness
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. saw — the tool
  22. mug — to rob
  23. mug — a face
  24. wound — an injury

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