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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  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. stock — shares
  2. land — a country
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — ground
  7. sharp — clever
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — a stone
  11. file — a document
  12. vault — a safe
  13. file — a line of people
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. file — a tool
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. content — the amount
  18. mine — for digging
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. stock — goods
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  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