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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. spell — magic
  4. hand — help
  5. spell — a short time
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. file — a tool
  9. stock — goods
  10. spell — letters
  11. file — a document
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. file — a line of people
  14. last — to go on
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. stock — shares
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. last — finally
  21. hand — in cards
  22. vault — a safe
  23. pound — a weight
  24. last — final

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