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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  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. rush — to hurry
  2. bound — obliged
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. rock — music
  6. stock — goods
  7. bat — the animal
  8. race — a contest
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. kid — child
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. rash — a series
  14. kid — to tease
  15. race — the arms race
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. race — humankind
  18. bound — certain
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rock — a stone
  21. rush — hurry
  22. stock — shares
  23. stock — a soup base
  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