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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fall — the season
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. cold — not warm
  6. swing — in golf
  7. stock — shares
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. swing — to play on
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. file — a tool
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cap — of ice
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. cap — a hat
  18. swing — music
  19. file — a document
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. fall — to drop
  23. file — a line of people
  24. stock — goods

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