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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ball — a great time
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. stock — shares
  7. ball — a dance
  8. fine — all right
  9. shower — to wash
  10. perch — the fish
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. shower — rain
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. row — a line
  19. fine — high quality
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. kick — in football
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. row — to paddle

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