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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 116 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. squash — the sport
  3. land — a country
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. tear — to rip
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. stock — goods
  8. spring — a coil
  9. tear — from crying
  10. staff — employees
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. staff — employees
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. spring — of water
  16. land — to come down
  17. spring — the season
  18. land — ground
  19. squash — to crush
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to click
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. staff — a stick
  24. sharp — clever

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