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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. face — to confront
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. stock — shares
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. chair — a leader
  9. perch — the fish
  10. scale — size or range
  11. face — part of the head
  12. date — the fruit
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — goods
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. scale — in music
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. face — to point toward

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