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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. swing — in golf
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. drill — army training
  6. swing — to play on
  7. face — to point toward
  8. tube — a container
  9. face — to confront
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. drill — the tool
  14. stock — goods
  15. drill — a practice
  16. mine — for digging
  17. swing — music
  18. bank — for money
  19. face — part of the head
  20. bank — of a river
  21. tube — the underground
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. stock — shares
  24. cold — not warm

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