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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. face — part of the head
  3. stock — goods
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. face — to confront
  11. stock — shares
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. face — to point toward
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — wild animals
  23. fall — the season
  24. bark — to shout

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