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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. mate — a friend
  3. hand — help
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — to breed
  6. land — ground
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. land — a country
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pop — to visit
  13. stock — goods
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. prune — to trim
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — letters
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. hand — in cards
  20. pop — music
  21. land — to come down
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. pop — soda
  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