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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. stock — shares
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. saw — the tool
  5. tube — the underground
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. tube — a container
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. kid — child
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. content — happy
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. stock — goods
  18. saw — the tool
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. content — the amount
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. straw — dry grass

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