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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. stock — goods
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — the season
  6. stock — shares
  7. tube — the underground
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. cold — an illness
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tube — a container
  20. bore — to tire
  21. bore — to drill
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — child
  24. fall — to drop

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