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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. march — the month
  4. bear — the animal
  5. band — a ring
  6. bear — the animal
  7. content — the amount
  8. face — to confront
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. face — to point toward
  11. march — the month
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. march — music
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stock — goods
  16. band — a music group
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. mine — for digging
  21. content — happy
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. face — part of the head

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