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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. cue — for pool
  7. stock — goods
  8. bat — the animal
  9. chip — to eat
  10. file — a line of people
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. stock — shares
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. spring — a coil
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. game — wild animals
  18. cue — a signal
  19. file — a tool
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. game — a match
  22. cue — a hint
  23. spring — the season
  24. file — a document

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