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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 would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. scale — in music
  6. scale — size or range
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stock — goods
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. file — a tool
  11. cold — an illness
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. stock — shares
  15. file — a line of people
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. file — a document
  18. toast — bread
  19. foot — a measure
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wound — an injury

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