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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — for dancing
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. shower — to wash
  6. club — a group
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — shares
  10. rush — hurry
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. shower — rain
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. saw — the tool
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. content — happy
  21. perch — the fish
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. rule — government
  24. content — the amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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