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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. stock — shares
  5. land — to come down
  6. track — a song
  7. race — the arms race
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. toast — bread
  10. land — a country
  11. track — a path
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — a contest
  14. stock — goods
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. board — to get on
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. track — to keep track
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. board — a committee
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. board — a flat piece

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