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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. present — there
  3. ground — the earth
  4. stock — goods
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. spring — a coil
  8. present — a gift
  9. present — the time now
  10. ground — crushed
  11. tube — the underground
  12. game — a match
  13. tube — a container
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. spring — of water
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. face — part of the head
  18. rash — a series
  19. ground — a position
  20. face — to point toward
  21. spring — the season
  22. face — to confront
  23. rash — hasty
  24. rash — on the skin

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