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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. face — to point toward
  3. stock — shares
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. chip — to eat
  6. saw — the tool
  7. game — wild animals
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. stock — goods
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. shower — rain
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. shower — to wash
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. chip — for betting
  18. saw — the tool
  19. fork — in a road
  20. game — a match
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — part of the head
  24. fork — a garden tool

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