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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. stock — shares
  3. game — a match
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. spell — a short time
  6. spell — magic
  7. rash — hasty
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. ground — crushed
  12. row — a line
  13. ground — a position
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. rash — a series
  16. chest — of your body
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. game — wild animals
  20. ground — the earth
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. spell — letters
  23. row — to paddle
  24. arm — a part of something

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