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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 120 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 difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cue — a hint
  5. cue — a signal
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cue — for pool
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pitch — completely
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. chest — a box
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. stock — goods
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. rest — what's left
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. rest — a break

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