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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 120 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 have a ________________ here.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. stock — shares
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. pit — in a race
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pit — a hole
  14. wind — moving air
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. saw — the tool
  20. mine — for digging
  21. saw — the tool
  22. scale — in music
  23. stock — goods
  24. rest — what's left

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