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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. ground — crushed
  6. march — music
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. march — the month
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. roll — a list
  11. ground — a position
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. stock — shares
  14. chest — a box
  15. cold — an illness
  16. roll — a cake
  17. ground — the earth
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stock — goods
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your body

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