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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. march — music
  3. stock — goods
  4. cap — a lid
  5. wind — moving air
  6. club — for golf
  7. stock — shares
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. cap — a hat
  12. wound — an injury
  13. club — for dancing
  14. march — the month
  15. wind — moving air
  16. club — a group
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. cap — of ice
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. wound — an injury
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. march — the month
  24. jam — in traffic

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