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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. file — a line of people
  3. stock — shares
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. pop — soda
  7. shower — rain
  8. tear — to rip
  9. file — a tool
  10. capital — money
  11. stock — goods
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pop — to visit
  14. ball — a dance
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. capital — a city
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. file — a document
  20. ball — a great time
  21. pop — music
  22. tear — from crying
  23. shower — to wash
  24. ball — a round shape

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