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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stock — shares
  10. fork — in a road
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. present — there
  14. pound — a weight
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stock — goods
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — a gift
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a hole

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