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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  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. stock — shares
  2. file — a document
  3. wind — moving air
  4. land — a country
  5. file — a line of people
  6. branch — a division
  7. cell — a phone
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. face — to point toward
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cell — in biology
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. swing — to play on
  14. land — ground
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. file — a tool
  18. land — to come down
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. stock — goods
  21. swing — music
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to confront
  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