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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. rock — music
  3. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. cap — a lid
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. fall — to drop
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. stock — goods
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. rock — a stone
  18. spring — of water
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — the season
  22. cold — an illness
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. stock — a soup base

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