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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — a position
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. rock — music
  7. stock — goods
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. game — a match
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — to grow
  12. rock — a stone
  13. wind — moving air
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. ground — the earth
  19. wind — moving air
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. stock — shares
  24. game — wild animals

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