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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. tear — to rip
  3. stock — goods
  4. track — to keep track
  5. ground — a position
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. track — a song
  9. ground — crushed
  10. current — of water
  11. spell — letters
  12. club — for dancing
  13. track — a path
  14. ground — the earth
  15. spell — a short time
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. tear — from crying
  18. chest — of your body
  19. stock — shares
  20. spell — magic
  21. current — happening now
  22. tear — from crying
  23. club — a group
  24. current — electric

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