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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mug — a cup
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stock — shares
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. land — to come down
  11. face — part of the head
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. mug — a face
  15. cold — an illness
  16. land — a country
  17. foot — a measure
  18. stock — goods
  19. mug — to rob
  20. face — to confront
  21. land — ground
  22. face — to point toward
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. wake — a trail

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