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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. season — of the year
  5. stock — goods
  6. race — a contest
  7. squash — the sport
  8. race — humankind
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stock — shares
  12. content — happy
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. squash — to crush
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. race — the arms race
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lean — to bend
  21. season — in sport
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. nail — on a finger

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