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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. stock — goods
  3. firm — a company
  4. stock — shares
  5. lean — thin
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. season — of the year
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. rash — a series
  11. rash — hasty
  12. cell — a phone
  13. content — happy
  14. firm — steady
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. firm — decided
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. content — the amount
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. cell — in biology
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. season — in sport

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