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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. foot — a measure
  3. present — there
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. cold — not warm
  6. march — the month
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. present — a gift
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. rash — hasty
  15. march — music
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. present — the time now
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stock — goods
  22. march — the month
  23. rash — a series
  24. stock — shares

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