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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. shower — to wash
  4. tube — the underground
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. stock — goods
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. spring — the season
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. chip — to eat
  12. spring — a coil
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tube — a container
  17. stock — shares
  18. tear — to rip
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. chip — for betting
  21. spring — of water
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. shower — rain

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