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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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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: sharp · drill · stock · cold · track · season · rest · face

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. stock — shares
  3. rest — a break
  4. drill — the tool
  5. stock — goods
  6. sharp — clever
  7. cold — not warm
  8. face — to confront
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. cold — an illness
  12. drill — army training
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. rest — what's left
  15. track — a song
  16. season — in sport
  17. rest — what's left
  18. track — to keep track
  19. track — a path
  20. face — part of the head
  21. drill — a practice
  22. face — to point toward
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. cold — the Cold War

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