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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. stock — shares
  4. club — a group
  5. stock — goods
  6. spell — a short time
  7. squash — to crush
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. drill — army training
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. squash — the sport
  13. tear — from crying
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. club — for golf
  16. tear — from crying
  17. spell — magic
  18. deal — to handle
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. spell — letters
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. tear — to rip

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