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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fall — the season
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. club — for golf
  5. stock — shares
  6. stock — goods
  7. fall — to drop
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. hand — in cards
  10. club — for dancing
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fine — high quality
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. pitch — completely
  18. spell — letters
  19. club — a group
  20. cold — not warm
  21. spell — magic
  22. fall — to drop
  23. spell — a short time
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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