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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. pop — soda
  4. bound — certain
  5. fall — the season
  6. stock — goods
  7. fall — to drop
  8. vault — a safe
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. spring — a coil
  13. race — a contest
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — tied together
  16. spring — the season
  17. shower — to wash
  18. spring — of water
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pop — music
  21. race — humankind
  22. fall — to drop
  23. race — the arms race
  24. shower — rain

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