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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. staff — employees
  5. lean — to bend
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. stock — shares
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. staff — a stick
  11. lean — thin
  12. wound — an injury
  13. root — of a plant
  14. spring — a coil
  15. root — of a word
  16. spring — the season
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. staff — employees
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. root — the cause
  21. sharp — clever
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. spring — of water
  24. stock — a soup base

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