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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · jam · stock · cold · kick · rule

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. 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. jam — to spread on bread
  2. rule — government
  3. kick — in football
  4. rule — a law
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — goods
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. stock — shares
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — an illness
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. race — the arms race
  18. 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