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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: race · season · bear · game · stock · cold · pit · rock

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. stock — goods
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. game — a match
  5. race — humankind
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. race — the arms race
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pit — a hole
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. season — of the year
  12. race — a contest
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — the animal
  16. pit — in a race
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. stock — shares
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. season — in sport
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rock — a stone
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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