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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 116 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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. cold — not warm
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mine — for digging
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. plane — a tool
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. mate — a friend
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. file — a line of people
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. file — a document
  22. stock — shares
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. file — a tool

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