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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. spring — the season
  3. bat — the animal
  4. plane — a tool
  5. mine — for digging
  6. ground — crushed
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. ground — the earth
  11. stock — goods
  12. spring — a coil
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. stock — shares
  17. spring — of water
  18. ground — a position
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. straw — a straw man

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