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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. wind — moving air
  6. perch — the fish
  7. stock — shares
  8. spring — a coil
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. row — to paddle
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rock — a stone
  14. spring — the season
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. stock — goods
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. spring — of water
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — a line
  23. rock — music
  24. rock — to move gently

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