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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 120 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. march — music
  4. stock — goods
  5. rest — a break
  6. row — to paddle
  7. march — the month
  8. row — a line
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. rest — what's left
  11. mark — a trace
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. march — the month
  15. tear — to rip
  16. stock — shares
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. tear — from crying
  19. sharp — clever
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. tear — from crying
  23. mark — a grade
  24. rest — what's left

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