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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. drill — the tool
  3. stock — goods
  4. hand — help
  5. drill — army training
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. dip — to sink
  13. stock — shares
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. drill — a practice
  23. file — a document
  24. patient — a sick person

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