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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. bat — the animal
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. stock — shares
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. present — the time now
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. row — a line
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. present — there
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. present — a gift
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. kick — in football
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. face — part of the head
  24. kick — with a leg

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