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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. stock — goods
  3. fall — the season
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — to breed
  6. foot — a measure
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. lean — thin
  9. stock — shares
  10. mate — a partner
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cold — not warm
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. fall — to drop
  17. saw — the tool
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. lean — to bend
  20. fall — to drop
  21. ground — the earth
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ground — a position
  24. foot — part of the body

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