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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. stock — goods
  3. spell — letters
  4. hand — help
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cell — a phone
  9. stock — shares
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. cell — in biology
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. spell — magic
  16. wind — moving air
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. wind — moving air

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