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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. stock — goods
  4. content — happy
  5. row — a line
  6. cell — a phone
  7. season — of the year
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. season — in sport
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cell — in biology
  14. stock — shares
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. game — wild animals
  18. row — to paddle
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. content — the amount

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