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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. shower — to wash
  4. scale — size or range
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. scale — in music
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. bank — of a river
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rule — government
  11. shower — rain
  12. field — a subject
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. stock — goods
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. bank — for money
  21. rule — a law
  22. cold — an illness
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bank — for 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