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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: patient · bore · vault · pitcher · race · toast · stock · cold

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. toast — bread
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. vault — a safe
  6. bore — to tire
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. race — a contest
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. race — humankind
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. stock — goods
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bore — to drill
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. stock — shares
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. race — the arms race

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