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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pitch — completely
  5. present — the time now
  6. spring — of water
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — shares
  9. wake — a trail
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. roll — a cake
  12. spring — the season
  13. track — a song
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. present — a gift
  17. present — there
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. stock — goods
  21. cold — not warm
  22. roll — a list
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a path

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