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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. row — a line
  3. race — humankind
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bat — the animal
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. bound — certain
  8. fall — to drop
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — of water
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. fall — the season
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. bound — tied together
  19. row — to paddle
  20. race — a contest
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. stock — shares
  23. spring — the season
  24. stock — goods

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