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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. object — to protest
  3. cold — an illness
  4. object — an aim
  5. net — for catching
  6. spring — a coil
  7. object — a thing
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. staff — employees
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. net — in sport
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. spring — the season
  15. net — after costs
  16. sharp — clever
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. staff — employees
  19. spring — of water
  20. cold — not warm
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. staff — a stick
  23. stock — goods
  24. arm — part of the body

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