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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. kid — child
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. fine — all right
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stock — goods
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. spring — the season
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. spring — of water
  21. fine — high quality
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pound — a weight

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