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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 116 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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. rule — government
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — shares
  5. ball — a dance
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. shower — to wash
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. pitch — completely
  11. rule — a law
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. shower — rain
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bat — the animal
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. ball — a great time
  24. pitch — a sports field

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