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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. stock — shares
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. cold — an illness
  5. squash — the sport
  6. row — a line
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. mark — a grade
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lean — to bend
  13. stock — goods
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pop — soda
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — to visit
  20. mark — a trace
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. squash — to crush

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