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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. stock — goods
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bore — to drill
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. mate — to breed
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cold — not warm
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. plane — a tool

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