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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. mine — for digging
  3. pop — music
  4. bank — for money
  5. cell — a phone
  6. stock — goods
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. pop — soda
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. spring — a coil
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. bank — for money
  14. stock — shares
  15. pop — to visit
  16. bank — of a river
  17. spring — of water
  18. wake — a trail
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. spring — the season
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cell — in biology
  24. mine — belonging to me

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