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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bound — certain
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. stock — goods
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bound — tied together
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. stock — shares
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. bound — obliged
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. wake — a trail
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. wound — an injury
  24. arm — part of the body

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