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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 120 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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. stock — goods
  3. spell — letters
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. dip — to sink
  6. file — a document
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bass — the fish
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. craft — a skill
  11. craft — boats
  12. ground — crushed
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — a short time
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. row — a line
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bass — low music
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. stock — shares

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