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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — goods
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. snap — to click
  5. pop — to visit
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. row — to paddle
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. pop — music
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. row — a line
  17. hand — help
  18. object — a thing
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. object — to protest
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. stock — shares
  23. pop — soda
  24. object — an aim

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