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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. stock — shares
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — happy
  7. file — a line of people
  8. shower — rain
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. file — a document
  12. track — a path
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. roll — a list
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. stock — goods
  18. shower — to wash
  19. track — to keep track
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. file — a tool
  23. track — a song
  24. chest — of your body

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