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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. cold — an illness
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bound — certain
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. bulb — for light
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. stock — shares
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bound — tied together
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. degree — from a university
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. bulb — for light
  22. stock — goods
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. degree — temperature

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