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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. object — an aim
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. object — to protest
  5. land — a country
  6. hand — help
  7. stock — shares
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mark — a grade
  11. chest — a box
  12. object — a thing
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. file — a document
  15. stock — goods
  16. pitch — completely
  17. land — ground
  18. land — to come down
  19. file — a line of people
  20. mark — a trace
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. hand — in cards

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