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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 116 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: cold · stock · spell · straw · plane · sharp · deal · can

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  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. spell — a short time
  2. sharp — clever
  3. stock — shares
  4. spell — magic
  5. can — a tin
  6. cold — an illness
  7. can — to be able to
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. spell — letters
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. stock — goods
  18. can — a tin
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. plane — a tool
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. deal — to handle
  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