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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 do anything ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. pop — music
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — the season
  10. stock — goods
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — to visit
  13. spring — of water
  14. bat — the animal
  15. dip — to sink
  16. rash — a series
  17. stock — shares
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. shower — rain
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. shower — to wash
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. rush — hurry

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