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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. cold — not warm
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. ground — a position
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. present — there
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. ground — the earth
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. present — a gift
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. plane — a tool
  17. drill — a practice
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. ground — crushed
  20. present — the time now
  21. stock — shares
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — the 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