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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: wound · arm · cold · cap · stock · roll · patient · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. stock — goods
  3. roll — a list
  4. cold — not warm
  5. roll — a cake
  6. cap — a lid
  7. wound — an injury
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. cap — of ice
  10. stock — shares
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. cap — a hat
  18. face — to point toward
  19. cold — an illness
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. face — part of the head
  24. wound — an injury

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