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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 120 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bat — the animal
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pit — in a race
  6. tear — from crying
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. rest — what's left
  10. chair — a leader
  11. stock — shares
  12. tear — from crying
  13. land — to come down
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. rest — a break
  17. pit — a hole
  18. rest — what's left
  19. land — a country
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. land — ground
  22. tear — to rip
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bat — for baseball

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