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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. stock — shares
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. march — the month
  7. drill — army training
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. cell — a phone
  11. chip — to eat
  12. march — music
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — finally
  15. chip — for betting
  16. game — wild animals
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. cell — in biology
  20. last — final
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — the tool
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. march — the month

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