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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. rush — hurry
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rest — a break
  7. swing — music
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stock — goods
  12. rest — what's left
  13. stock — shares
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. rock — music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. cold — an illness
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. rock — a stone
  20. swing — in golf
  21. tube — a container
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. rest — what's left

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