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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. bat — the animal
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. race — humankind
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. land — ground
  10. stock — shares
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. squash — to crush
  13. land — a country
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. land — to come down
  16. race — the arms race
  17. file — a tool
  18. race — a contest
  19. squash — the sport
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. file — a line of people
  24. dip — to sink

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