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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. stock — shares
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. wind — moving air
  7. rest — what's left
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. rest — a break
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. band — a ring
  15. stock — goods
  16. field — a subject
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. rest — what's left
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wind — moving air
  24. band — a music group

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