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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. stock — shares
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stock — goods
  12. last — finally
  13. spell — letters
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. last — final
  16. spell — magic
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. bulb — for light
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. last — to go on
  22. kick — in football
  23. spell — a short time
  24. march — the month

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