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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. shower — to wash
  3. track — a song
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. game — a match
  7. swing — music
  8. shower — rain
  9. track — a path
  10. band — a music group
  11. fall — the season
  12. press — newspapers
  13. press — to push
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — to play on
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. fall — to drop
  19. press — a publisher
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. track — to keep track
  23. fall — to drop
  24. band — a ring

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