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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 124 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — for digging
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. vault — a safe
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the fish
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. stock — shares
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. tear — from crying
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. tear — to rip
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. tear — from crying
  19. stock — goods
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. game — a match
  22. game — wild animals
  23. sharp — clever
  24. leaves — of a tree

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