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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. sharp — clever
  4. shower — rain
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. stock — shares
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. ground — the earth
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. stock — goods
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wake — a trail
  17. ground — crushed
  18. fine — high quality
  19. ground — a position
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. fine — all right

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