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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. pop — music
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — goods
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — for catching
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. race — the arms race
  16. march — music
  17. race — a contest
  18. pop — soda
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. race — humankind
  21. rest — what's left
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. rest — a break
  24. rest — what's left

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