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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 120 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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. row — to paddle
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. kid — to tease
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. wind — moving air
  8. spring — the season
  9. wind — moving air
  10. row — a line
  11. field — for sport
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. stock — shares
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — a subject
  19. stock — goods
  20. kid — child
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. row — a quarrel

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