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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. game — wild animals
  4. row — to paddle
  5. track — a song
  6. track — a path
  7. craft — boats
  8. spell — letters
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. spell — magic
  11. spell — a short time
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. rush — hurry
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. craft — a skill
  20. stock — goods
  21. row — a line
  22. game — a match
  23. track — to keep track
  24. wind — moving air

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