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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. spell — a short time
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. degree — temperature
  8. face — to confront
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. deal — to handle
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — to visit
  13. degree — from a university
  14. stock — goods
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wind — moving air
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. face — part of the head
  20. pop — music
  21. spell — magic
  22. face — to point toward
  23. spell — letters
  24. wind — moving air

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