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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. cold — not warm
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. stock — shares
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pitch — completely
  7. spell — letters
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. stand — to bear
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. bat — the animal
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. spell — magic
  19. spell — a short time
  20. stock — goods
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. pitch — a sports field

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