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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. stock — shares
  7. cold — an illness
  8. stock — goods
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. ground — the earth
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. chip — to eat
  16. chip — for betting
  17. wake — a trail
  18. vault — a safe
  19. row — to paddle
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. row — a line
  24. chip — in a computer

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