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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 120 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. pitch — completely
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. stock — goods
  11. present — there
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. cold — an illness
  14. kick — in football
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. present — a gift
  22. present — the time now
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. stock — shares

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