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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — the sport
  4. stock — goods
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. ground — a position
  7. game — a match
  8. snap — to click
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. ground — crushed
  11. shower — to wash
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. squash — to crush
  15. game — wild animals
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. shower — rain
  23. ground — the earth
  24. calf — a young animal

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