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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. hand — help
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fall — the season
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. stock — shares
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cold — an illness
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. drill — the tool
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. fall — to drop
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. stock — goods
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cell — in biology
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. cell — a phone
  24. drill — army training

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