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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. swing — in golf
  4. cold — an illness
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stock — goods
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. prune — to trim
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. degree — from a university
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. degree — temperature
  18. shower — to wash
  19. stock — shares
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. stock — a soup base

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