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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. object — a thing
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. cold — an illness
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. object — to protest
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bat — the animal
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. degree — from a university
  14. stock — shares
  15. degree — temperature
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. object — an aim
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. stock — goods
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cold — not warm

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