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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. present — there
  5. bore — to tire
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bank — of a river
  9. bank — for money
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stock — goods
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cold — an illness
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. present — a gift
  19. bore — to drill
  20. kid — child
  21. bank — for money
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. stock — shares
  24. present — the time now

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