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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — low music
  4. spring — the season
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. season — in sport
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wax — to grow
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. mine — for digging
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. season — of the year
  17. bass — the fish
  18. stock — shares
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. mine — belonging to me

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