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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. file — a document
  3. pop — music
  4. stock — shares
  5. pop — soda
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. kid — child
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. bat — the animal
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. pop — to visit
  13. file — a tool
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. court — of law
  18. stock — goods
  19. wax — to grow
  20. kid — to tease
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. file — a line of people
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — for sport

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