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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. stock — shares
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stock — goods
  8. net — for catching
  9. kid — child
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. net — in sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. date — the fruit
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. kid — to tease
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bound — tied together
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. pass — a permit
  21. bound — certain
  22. bound — obliged
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. net — after costs

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