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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. bound — certain
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. bear — the animal
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stock — shares
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. clip — a video
  13. bound — tied together
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. bound — obliged
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — an illness
  24. clip — to cut

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