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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. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. root — of a plant
  3. drill — the tool
  4. stock — goods
  5. spell — letters
  6. drill — a practice
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bass — low music
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cold — not warm
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bass — the fish
  17. drill — army training
  18. staff — employees
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. root — of a word
  21. spell — magic
  22. spell — a short time
  23. root — the cause
  24. cold — the Cold War

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