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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. roll — a cake
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. can — to be able to
  8. roll — a list
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — a tin
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. mate — a partner
  14. tear — from crying
  15. land — to come down
  16. stock — shares
  17. mate — a friend
  18. stock — goods
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. mate — to breed
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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