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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. tear — from crying
  6. game — wild animals
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — shares
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. chip — for betting
  12. tear — to rip
  13. spell — a short time
  14. band — a ring
  15. tear — from crying
  16. spell — magic
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. spell — letters
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — to eat
  22. game — a match
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. band — a music group

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