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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: lean · cell · pitcher · staff · fine · cold · stock · race

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fine — high quality
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. race — the arms race
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. staff — a stick
  9. race — humankind
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — goods
  12. fine — all right
  13. cell — in biology
  14. lean — to bend
  15. cell — a phone
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. staff — employees
  18. race — a contest
  19. staff — employees
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. fine — a penalty

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