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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. pop — to visit
  3. stock — goods
  4. game — a match
  5. date — the fruit
  6. pop — soda
  7. drill — the tool
  8. stock — shares
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — to paddle
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. wind — moving air
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. row — a line
  17. drill — a practice
  18. game — wild animals
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. pop — music
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. wind — moving air
  23. drill — army training
  24. date — on the calendar

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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