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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.

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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. perch — the fish
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stock — shares
  9. chest — of your body
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stock — goods
  15. bank — for money
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. bank — of a river
  18. cold — not warm
  19. row — a line
  20. mine — for digging
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bank — for money
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. chest — of your body

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