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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. stock — shares
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. content — the amount
  8. club — a group
  9. squash — the sport
  10. spring — the season
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. club — for dancing
  17. spring — of water
  18. content — happy
  19. squash — to crush
  20. cold — an illness
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. club — for golf
  24. content — videos and posts

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