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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. stock — goods
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stock — shares
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pit — in a race
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. bore — to drill
  13. net — for catching
  14. game — a match
  15. net — in sport
  16. ground — a position
  17. bore — to tire
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. net — after costs
  20. fine — high quality
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. ground — the earth
  24. game — wild animals

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