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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spring — the season
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — the earth
  7. pound — a weight
  8. spring — of water
  9. stock — shares
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. spring — a coil
  12. race — humankind
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — goods
  15. race — a contest
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. race — the arms race
  20. ground — crushed
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. cell — a phone
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cell — in biology

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