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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 116 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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. stock — shares
  3. cold — not warm
  4. drill — army training
  5. wake — a trail
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. spell — letters
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. band — a music group
  10. drill — the tool
  11. spell — magic
  12. band — a ring
  13. can — to be able to
  14. can — a tin
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. content — happy
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. drill — a practice
  21. stock — goods
  22. can — a tin
  23. content — the amount
  24. cold — an illness

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