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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. stock — goods
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wind — moving air
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. chest — a box
  7. face — part of the head
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. stock — shares
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — to point toward
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tube — the underground
  15. cue — for pool
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. prune — to trim
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. chest — of your body
  21. tube — a container
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cue — a signal
  24. prune — the fruit

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