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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — a friend
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. chip — to eat
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. stock — goods
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. last — final
  10. stock — shares
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. last — to go on
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. content — the amount
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. wound — an injury
  17. last — finally
  18. chip — for betting
  19. deal — to handle
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. mate — to breed
  24. content — happy

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