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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. capital — money
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. swing — in golf
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. capital — a city
  7. spring — of water
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. shower — rain
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. stock — goods
  14. bass — the fish
  15. lie — to recline
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. stock — shares
  18. bass — low music
  19. row — to paddle
  20. spring — a coil
  21. row — a line
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. spring — the season

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