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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. wind — moving air
  7. stock — shares
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wind — moving air
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — goods
  13. game — a match
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. press — a publisher
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. press — to push
  19. tear — from crying
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. game — wild animals
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. tear — from crying
  24. press — newspapers

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