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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. squash — the sport
  3. wax — to grow
  4. content — the amount
  5. ground — crushed
  6. squash — to crush
  7. key — for a lock
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. key — the most important part
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. content — happy
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. key — in music
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — goods
  22. ground — the earth
  23. ground — a position
  24. mouse — for a computer

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