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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 speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. squash — the sport
  3. pop — music
  4. pop — to visit
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. bank — for money
  7. chest — a box
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. stock — goods
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. cold — an illness
  17. squash — to crush
  18. bank — of a river
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bank — for money
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pop — soda
  23. stock — shares
  24. arm — part of the body

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