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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. fall — to drop
  3. stock — goods
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. land — a country
  6. drill — the tool
  7. land — to come down
  8. staff — employees
  9. fall — the season
  10. stock — shares
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. drill — a practice
  13. staff — employees
  14. wound — an injury
  15. land — ground
  16. hand — help
  17. fall — to drop
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. staff — a stick
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. hand — in cards
  22. drill — army training
  23. game — wild animals
  24. wound — an injury

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