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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. hand — help
  3. scale — size or range
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. file — a document
  6. stock — shares
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. staff — employees
  9. file — a tool
  10. staff — employees
  11. file — a line of people
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. stock — goods
  14. track — to keep track
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. hand — in cards
  17. staff — a stick
  18. track — a path
  19. last — final
  20. scale — in music
  21. game — wild animals
  22. last — finally
  23. game — a match
  24. last — to go on

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