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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 have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. spell — letters
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — shares
  5. band — a ring
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. file — a line of people
  8. ball — a dance
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. foot — a measure
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. spell — a short time
  13. ball — a great time
  14. content — the amount
  15. file — a document
  16. content — happy
  17. file — a tool
  18. band — a music group
  19. spell — magic
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. plane — a tool
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. foot — the bottom

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