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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. stock — shares
  5. land — a country
  6. game — a match
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. game — wild animals
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. spring — the season
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spring — a coil
  19. stock — goods
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. spring — of water
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — in an idiom

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