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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. fall — the season
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. stock — goods
  9. pit — in a race
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. pit — a hole
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. wound — an injury
  18. season — in sport
  19. stock — shares
  20. season — of the year
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. squash — to crush

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