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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. stock — goods
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. saw — the tool
  6. game — a match
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — the underground
  9. saw — the tool
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — a phone
  12. stock — shares
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. court — for sport
  16. lean — to bend
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. court — of law
  21. lean — thin
  22. game — wild animals
  23. court — of a king
  24. game — a kind of play

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