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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. cell — in biology
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. sharp — clever
  6. stock — shares
  7. band — a ring
  8. club — for golf
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. band — a music group
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. stock — goods
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wake — a trail
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. cell — a phone
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. club — for dancing
  23. club — a group
  24. sharp — exactly

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