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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 120 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. rock — music
  3. wind — moving air
  4. squash — to crush
  5. band — a music group
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pitch — completely
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. fine — high quality
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a match
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. band — a ring
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. rock — a stone
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. fine — all right
  24. stock — goods

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