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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. rock — music
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. wind — moving air
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stock — shares
  8. mate — to breed
  9. stock — goods
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. chair — a leader
  12. rock — a stone
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. mate — a partner
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. mate — a friend
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. jam — in traffic

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