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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. game — a match
  8. mine — for digging
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. rush — hurry
  12. stock — shares
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. game — wild animals
  15. stock — goods
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. scale — in music
  19. rock — a stone
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. scale — size or range
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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