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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. stock — shares
  4. race — humankind
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — hasty
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. race — a contest
  13. wound — an injury
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. race — the arms race
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wind — moving air
  22. band — a music group
  23. stock — goods
  24. wound — an injury

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