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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 116 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. cold — not warm
  3. shower — rain
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. kid — child
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. kid — to tease
  8. mug — a cup
  9. fall — to drop
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. stock — goods
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — the season
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. shower — to wash
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. mug — to rob
  19. scale — in music
  20. mug — a face
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. scale — size or range
  24. stock — shares

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