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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chip — to eat
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bat — the animal
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rest — what's left
  8. club — for golf
  9. degree — from a university
  10. rest — a break
  11. club — a group
  12. rest — what's left
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. stock — goods
  17. club — for dancing
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. wax — to grow
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. rash — a series
  24. chip — for betting

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