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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 120 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. swing — to play on
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. stock — goods
  7. game — a match
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. content — happy
  10. wound — an injury
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. swing — in golf
  16. shower — rain
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. game — wild animals
  19. stock — shares
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. content — the amount
  23. shower — to wash
  24. swing — music

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