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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. rock — music
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spring — the season
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. shower — rain
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. wind — moving air
  13. stock — goods
  14. stock — shares
  15. toast — bread
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — to wash
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bass — low music
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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