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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. present — a gift
  3. kid — to tease
  4. stock — goods
  5. game — wild animals
  6. kid — child
  7. game — a match
  8. scale — in music
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. row — to paddle
  12. scale — size or range
  13. present — the time now
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. row — a line
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. present — there
  22. dip — to sink
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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