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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. march — the month
  2. chest — a box
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — an illness
  8. board — to get on
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. march — the month
  11. date — the fruit
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. board — a committee
  14. march — music
  15. mark — a trace
  16. stock — goods
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. dip — to sink
  20. stock — shares
  21. mark — a grade
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. cold — not warm
  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