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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. rush — hurry
  5. stock — goods
  6. tube — a container
  7. net — for catching
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. ball — a dance
  10. tube — the underground
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. cold — not warm
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. stock — shares
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. net — after costs
  19. net — in sport
  20. wax — to grow
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ball — a great time
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. rush — a thrill

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