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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. stock — goods
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pop — to visit
  5. spring — a coil
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wind — moving air
  8. spring — the season
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chip — to eat
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. chip — for betting
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. pop — music
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stock — shares
  20. pop — soda
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. spring — of water
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. bay — a horse colour

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