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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. cold — not warm
  3. capital — a city
  4. cue — a hint
  5. fall — to drop
  6. ball — a great time
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. stock — goods
  9. field — a subject
  10. fall — the season
  11. field — farmland
  12. cue — for pool
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. cue — a signal
  17. ball — a dance
  18. field — for sport
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fall — to drop
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. capital — money

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