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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 taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. stock — shares
  3. shower — rain
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fork — in a road
  7. club — a group
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. foot — a measure
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. roll — a cake
  13. chest — of your body
  14. roll — a list
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. chest — a box
  18. wind — moving air
  19. stock — goods
  20. club — for dancing
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wind — moving air
  24. club — for golf

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