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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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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: fine · bay · mine · drill · lean · sharp · stock · cold

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. fine — high quality
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. lean — to bend
  10. mine — for digging
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. cold — an illness
  13. drill — army training
  14. drill — a practice
  15. stock — shares
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fine — all right
  21. stock — goods
  22. sharp — clever
  23. drill — the tool
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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