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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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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. bat — the animal
  3. squash — the sport
  4. file — a tool
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. file — a document
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. cap — a hat
  9. rest — what's left
  10. cap — a lid
  11. stock — goods
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. stock — shares
  14. squash — to crush
  15. cap — of ice
  16. file — a line of people
  17. rest — a break
  18. bat — in an idiom

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