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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 quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. bank — for money
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. hand — in cards
  7. stock — goods
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bank — for money
  10. game — a match
  11. ball — a dance
  12. stock — shares
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. bank — of a river
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. hand — help
  22. game — wild animals
  23. ball — a great time
  24. wound — an injury

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