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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. stock — shares
  5. face — to point toward
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. stock — goods
  8. ground — a position
  9. cue — a signal
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. cue — for pool
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ground — crushed
  19. face — to confront
  20. ground — the earth
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. face — part of the head
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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