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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. last — finally
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. lean — thin
  7. bound — obliged
  8. last — final
  9. stock — goods
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. spring — the season
  13. bound — tied together
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. bound — certain
  16. spring — of water
  17. last — to go on
  18. spring — a coil

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