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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 116 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. scale — in music
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. stock — shares
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. mark — a trace
  7. land — ground
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mark — a grade
  11. spring — the season
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. stock — goods
  15. land — a country
  16. tear — to rip
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. spring — of water
  19. scale — size or range
  20. wound — an injury
  21. land — to come down
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spring — a coil

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