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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. spell — letters
  4. wind — moving air
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. stock — goods
  8. swing — music
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. stock — shares
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. spell — a short time
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. swing — in golf
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. plane — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a tool
  21. swing — to play on
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. spell — magic

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