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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pit — a hole
  8. march — the month
  9. chip — for betting
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. wound — an injury
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. stock — goods
  15. march — music
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. wound — an injury
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — the tool
  22. chip — to eat
  23. pit — in a race
  24. drill — a practice

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