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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. rest — what's left
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. race — humankind
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. scale — size or range
  9. race — the arms race
  10. squash — to crush
  11. tube — the underground
  12. perch — the fish
  13. stock — shares
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. race — a contest
  16. rest — a break
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — the sport
  21. stock — goods
  22. tube — a container
  23. rest — what's left
  24. scale — in music

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