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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — shares
  4. saw — the tool
  5. wind — moving air
  6. season — in sport
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. saw — the tool
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — child
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. march — the month
  13. season — of the year
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. march — music
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. stand — to bear
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. wind — moving air
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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