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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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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. rock — music
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. march — the month
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. rock — a stone
  19. mine — for digging
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — shares
  22. wake — a trail
  23. march — music
  24. march — the month

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