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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. stand — to bear
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — of water
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — goods
  13. fine — high quality
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. fine — all right
  22. spring — a coil
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a dance

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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