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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 116 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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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: deal · spring · bowl · perch · wake · stock · file · content

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — goods
  6. spring — the season
  7. deal — to handle
  8. spring — of water
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. file — a line of people
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. perch — the fish
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a document

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