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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 belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. row — to paddle
  6. mine — for digging
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. shower — to wash
  9. stock — goods
  10. stock — shares
  11. date — the fruit
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. club — for golf
  14. shower — rain
  15. club — for dancing
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. tear — to rip
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. tear — from crying
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. tear — from crying
  24. row — a line

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