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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. stock — shares
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cell — in biology
  5. board — a committee
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. kick — in football
  8. cell — a phone
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. rash — a series
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cold — not warm
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — to get on
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stock — goods
  20. rash — hasty
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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