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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — part of the head
  5. stock — goods
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — a match
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. stock — shares
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. face — to point toward
  17. game — wild animals
  18. pound — a weight
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. snap — to click
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. bowl — a football final

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