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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 116 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 looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — an injury
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. content — the amount
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. content — happy
  7. bat — the animal
  8. file — a tool
  9. stock — shares
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. chair — a leader
  15. file — a line of people
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. lean — to bend
  18. swing — to play on
  19. stock — goods
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. swing — music
  22. file — a document
  23. lean — thin
  24. swing — in golf

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