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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. content — the amount
  3. cue — a hint
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. content — happy
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bark — to shout
  10. cue — for pool
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. spell — magic
  13. row — a line
  14. foot — a measure
  15. cue — a signal
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. pop — soda
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. row — to paddle
  21. stock — shares
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. stock — goods
  24. pop — 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