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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stock — shares
  4. ball — a great time
  5. race — a contest
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pit — a hole
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. race — the arms race
  11. stock — goods
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. season — of the year
  14. rest — a break
  15. shower — to wash
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — what's left
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. ball — a dance
  21. race — humankind
  22. shower — rain
  23. season — in sport
  24. cold — the Cold War

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