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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. roll — a list
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. rule — a law
  6. rule — government
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. cold — not warm
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. drill — army training
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. kick — in football
  17. roll — a cake
  18. drill — the tool
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. drill — a practice
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. stock — shares
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cold — an illness

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