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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. tear — from crying
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. tear — from crying
  7. spell — letters
  8. squash — the sport
  9. mark — a trace
  10. wind — moving air
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a document
  13. wind — moving air
  14. spell — magic
  15. squash — to crush
  16. stock — goods
  17. mark — a grade
  18. file — a line of people
  19. spell — a short time
  20. track — a path
  21. track — a song
  22. stock — shares
  23. tear — to rip
  24. track — to keep track

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