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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. content — the amount
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stock — shares
  7. hand — help
  8. field — farmland
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. field — for sport
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. stock — goods
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. content — happy
  22. dip — to sink
  23. cold — an illness
  24. field — a subject

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