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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. kid — child
  3. board — a committee
  4. stock — shares
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. sharp — clever
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bass — the fish
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wake — a trail
  16. board — to get on
  17. bass — low music
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. saw — the tool
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. stock — goods

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