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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 have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. spring — the season
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. snap — to click
  8. march — the month
  9. stock — shares
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. cell — a phone
  13. spring — of water
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. spring — a coil
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. foot — a measure
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. cell — in biology
  21. mine — for digging
  22. stock — goods
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. cell — in a prison

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