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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  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. stock — goods
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bound — obliged
  4. face — part of the head
  5. field — for sport
  6. file — a line of people
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. bound — tied together
  10. pass — a permit
  11. face — to confront
  12. field — a subject
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. file — a tool
  17. face — to point toward
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. field — farmland
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. wake — a trail
  23. bound — certain
  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