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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to bend
  4. race — the arms race
  5. stock — goods
  6. net — in sport
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. net — for catching
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cold — an illness
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. net — after costs
  16. race — humankind
  17. stock — shares
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. race — a contest
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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