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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. present — a gift
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — to crush
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. bound — tied together
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. bound — obliged
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — a position
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. ground — the earth
  17. stock — shares
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. present — there
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bound — certain
  23. present — the time now
  24. wind — moving air

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