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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. stock — shares
  3. perch — the fish
  4. ground — crushed
  5. wind — moving air
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — in a road
  8. race — the arms race
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. ground — a position
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. spring — of water
  14. ground — the earth
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. hand — in cards
  17. race — humankind
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. wind — moving air
  22. stock — goods
  23. race — a contest
  24. spring — a coil

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