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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. rush — hurry
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. tube — the underground
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. dip — to sink
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. stock — shares
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cold — an illness
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stock — goods
  18. tube — a container
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. cabinet — ministers

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