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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spring · pitcher · staff · sharp · cold · stock · row · game

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. staff — employees
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. game — a match
  5. spring — a coil
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. staff — a stick
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spring — of water
  11. stock — shares
  12. spring — the season
  13. row — a line
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cold — not warm
  17. game — wild animals
  18. row — to paddle
  19. staff — employees
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. stock — goods
  24. game — a kind of play

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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