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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. row — to paddle
  7. wind — moving air
  8. stock — goods
  9. cap — a lid
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cap — a hat
  13. saw — the tool
  14. mine — for digging
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. cap — of ice
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. row — a line

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