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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. ground — crushed
  3. stock — shares
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. game — a match
  6. tube — a container
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. spring — of water
  9. bank — for money
  10. stock — goods
  11. ground — the earth
  12. mark — a trace
  13. game — wild animals
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. spring — a coil
  16. row — a line
  17. bank — of a river
  18. ground — a position
  19. spring — the season
  20. row — to paddle
  21. mark — a grade
  22. tube — the underground
  23. bank — for money
  24. tube — in a tire

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