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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bound — obliged
  4. rest — what's left
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. rest — a break
  8. cold — an illness
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bound — certain
  12. stock — shares
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. stock — goods
  18. rash — hasty
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bound — tied together
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rash — a series
  24. temple — a place of worship

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