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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. stock — goods
  3. club — for golf
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. pass — a permit
  11. present — a gift
  12. club — a group
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. club — for dancing
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. present — the time now
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. hand — help
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wax — to grow
  24. kid — child

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