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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 116 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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. stock — goods
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. stock — shares
  6. scale — size or range
  7. spell — a short time
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. spell — magic
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. rule — government
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. tube — the underground
  15. snap — to click
  16. spell — letters
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. rule — a law
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. scale — in music

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