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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. object — a thing
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. stock — shares
  8. cold — an illness
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. ground — a position
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. ground — crushed
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. object — an aim
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. object — to protest
  21. ground — the earth
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. straw — a straw man
  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