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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 120 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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. spring — of water
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. mine — for digging
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. kick — in football
  8. spring — a coil
  9. rule — government
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. rule — a law
  12. stock — goods
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. content — happy
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. stock — shares
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. content — the amount
  22. spring — the season
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. kick — with a leg

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