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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. stock — shares
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. fork — in a road
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. capital — a city
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. capital — money
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. bat — the animal

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