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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 120 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. saw — the tool
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. kick — in football
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. squash — to crush
  13. plane — a tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cold — not warm
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. squash — the sport
  21. stock — goods
  22. stock — shares
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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