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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. wake — a trail
  4. cold — an illness
  5. shower — to wash
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. shower — rain
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — shares
  10. land — to come down
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pit — in a race
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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