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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: bear · sharp · cold · pitcher · date · fall · stock · roll

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. fall — the season
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. fall — to drop
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bear — the animal
  8. roll — a list
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. stock — shares
  11. date — the fruit
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bear — the animal
  14. fall — to drop
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. roll — a cake
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — clever
  24. cold — an illness

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