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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. charge — in control
  4. ground — a position
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. charge — a price
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. charge — electricity
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. chest — a box
  13. shower — rain
  14. ground — crushed
  15. hand — help
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. ground — the earth
  18. current — of water
  19. stock — goods
  20. current — happening now
  21. shower — to wash
  22. current — electric
  23. chest — of your body
  24. hand — in cards

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