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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. prune — to trim
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. chest — a box
  6. wake — a trail
  7. spring — of water
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. stock — shares
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. row — a line
  13. spring — a coil
  14. prune — to trim
  15. stock — goods
  16. chest — of your body
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. chest — of your body
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. row — to paddle
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. spring — the season
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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