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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. track — a path
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. dip — to sink
  6. stock — goods
  7. game — wild animals
  8. track — to keep track
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. pop — music
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pop — soda
  15. stock — shares
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. chest — of your body
  18. court — of a king
  19. chest — a box
  20. court — of law
  21. court — for sport
  22. chest — of your body
  23. track — a song
  24. game — a match

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