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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. board — a committee
  9. row — a line
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. spring — the season
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spring — of water
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. stock — goods
  19. cold — an illness
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. deal — to handle
  23. board — to get on
  24. stock — shares

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