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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: stock · lash · cold · net · race · bulb · squash · swing

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. race — humankind
  5. net — in sport
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. bulb — for light
  8. net — for catching
  9. squash — the sport
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. swing — music
  13. swing — to play on
  14. race — a contest
  15. bulb — for light
  16. swing — in golf
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. stock — goods
  21. net — after costs
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. race — the arms race
  24. squash — to crush

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