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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. fine — all right
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — shares
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pop — music
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. fine — high quality
  9. pop — soda
  10. deal — to handle
  11. cold — not warm
  12. key — for a lock
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. court — for sport
  16. key — in music
  17. court — of a king
  18. key — the most important part
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. court — of law
  24. stock — a soup base

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