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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. game — a match
  3. lean — to bend
  4. stock — goods
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. game — wild animals
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. cold — not warm
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. mark — a trace
  13. kid — child
  14. court — of a king
  15. lean — thin
  16. mark — a grade
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. court — for sport
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. court — of law
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stock — shares
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. mark — to pay attention

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