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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. stock — goods
  4. dip — to sink
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. drill — a practice
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stock — shares
  13. net — for catching
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rule — a law
  16. net — after costs
  17. drill — the tool
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. rule — government
  20. net — in sport
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fall — the season

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