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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. land — to come down
  4. tube — a container
  5. squash — the sport
  6. game — wild animals
  7. stock — goods
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. land — ground
  11. game — a match
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. squash — to crush
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. tube — the underground
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. row — a line
  20. land — a country
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. row — to paddle
  23. lean — thin
  24. lean — to bend

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