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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. drill — army training
  4. stock — shares
  5. ground — a position
  6. tube — a container
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — a partner
  9. clip — for paper
  10. stock — goods
  11. drill — the tool
  12. drill — a practice
  13. mate — to breed
  14. roll — a list
  15. ground — the earth
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. clip — to cut
  18. court — of law
  19. tube — the underground
  20. court — for sport
  21. court — of a king
  22. ground — crushed
  23. clip — a video
  24. tube — in a tire

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