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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. toast — bread
  3. pop — to visit
  4. club — for dancing
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. stock — goods
  8. cell — a phone
  9. stock — shares
  10. cold — an illness
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. mark — a grade
  13. club — a group
  14. club — for golf
  15. pop — soda
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pop — music
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. mark — a trace
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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