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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. dip — to sink
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. stock — shares
  5. land — to come down
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. current — happening now
  8. kid — child
  9. plane — a tool
  10. current — electric
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the sport
  16. file — a document
  17. kid — to tease
  18. current — of water
  19. land — ground
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. land — a country
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a tool

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