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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 · file · wake · mine · stock · rest · cold · pit

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. rest — a break
  4. race — the arms race
  5. rest — what's left
  6. file — a tool
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wake — a trail
  9. mine — for digging
  10. pit — in a race
  11. file — a document
  12. stock — shares
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. stock — goods
  19. pit — a hole
  20. cold — not warm
  21. race — a contest
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. race — humankind

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