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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. stock — shares
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. object — a thing
  6. mate — a partner
  7. kid — child
  8. object — to protest
  9. mate — to breed
  10. mate — a friend
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. object — an aim
  13. lean — to bend
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. root — of a word
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. ball — a dance
  18. lean — thin
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. root — the cause
  21. stock — goods
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. root — of a plant
  24. kid — to tease

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