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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. file — a document
  3. squash — the sport
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. stock — shares
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — a line
  9. wind — moving air
  10. mug — a cup
  11. file — a tool
  12. mug — a face
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. mug — to rob
  17. wind — moving air
  18. club — for golf
  19. stock — goods
  20. squash — to crush
  21. sharp — clever
  22. file — a line of people
  23. club — a group
  24. row — to paddle

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