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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bore — to tire
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. land — ground
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — goods
  9. shower — to wash
  10. file — a document
  11. stock — shares
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bore — to drill
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — rain
  17. bass — low music
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. prune — to trim
  20. land — to come down
  21. file — a tool
  22. land — a country
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pound — a weight

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