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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. land — to come down
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. scale — size or range
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — goods
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. spell — magic
  12. content — happy
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. content — the amount
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. land — ground
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. stock — shares
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. spell — letters
  22. land — a country
  23. spell — a short time
  24. jam — in traffic

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