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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. object — a thing
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — magic
  6. root — of a word
  7. stock — shares
  8. kid — child
  9. root — the cause
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — in music
  12. march — the month
  13. object — to protest
  14. rush — hurry
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. spell — a short time
  17. kid — to tease
  18. march — music
  19. object — an aim
  20. scale — size or range
  21. stock — goods
  22. root — of a plant
  23. march — the month
  24. stock — a soup base

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