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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. land — to come down
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — the time now
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stock — goods
  11. present — there
  12. mug — a face
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. stock — shares
  16. cold — not warm
  17. land — a country
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. lean — to bend
  21. mug — to rob
  22. mug — a cup
  23. land — ground
  24. lean — thin

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