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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stock — shares
  3. pound — a weight
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. toast — bread
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. squash — the sport
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. squash — to crush
  11. sharp — clever
  12. root — the cause
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. root — of a plant
  20. stock — goods
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. root — of a word
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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