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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. hand — help
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. key — for a lock
  10. key — in music
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. scale — in music
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. scale — size or range
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. key — the most important part
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. perch — the fish
  21. stock — goods
  22. hand — in cards
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. date — the fruit

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