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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. band — a ring
  3. mine — for digging
  4. stock — goods
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. rock — a stone
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rock — music
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. band — a music group
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. game — wild animals
  17. chip — for betting
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. rash — a series
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. stock — shares
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. chip — to eat
  24. rash — hasty

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