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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. land — ground
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. land — a country
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chip — for betting
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. present — the time now
  12. spring — the season
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. bear — the animal
  15. present — there
  16. spring — of water
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. sharp — clever
  19. land — to come down
  20. bear — the animal
  21. present — a gift
  22. stock — goods
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. chip — to eat

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