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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. face — to confront
  4. swing — to play on
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bat — the animal
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. ground — a position
  9. march — the month
  10. swing — music
  11. pitch — completely
  12. ground — the earth
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wound — an injury
  15. face — to point toward
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stock — shares
  18. march — music
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. march — the month
  21. swing — in golf
  22. face — part of the head
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wound — an injury

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