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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. file — a tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. stock — shares
  9. content — happy
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. object — to protest
  12. file — a document
  13. content — the amount
  14. object — a thing
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. stock — goods
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. object — an aim
  22. cold — not warm
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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