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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. key — for a lock
  9. key — the most important part
  10. kid — child
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bound — tied together
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cold — not warm
  15. stock — shares
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. key — in music
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. bass — low music
  20. stock — goods
  21. bound — certain
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bound — obliged
  24. wind — moving air

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