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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 120 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bat — the animal
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. sharp — clever
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. race — a contest
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. stock — shares
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wake — a trail
  24. race — humankind

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