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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. stock — goods
  3. chair — a leader
  4. cell — in biology
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. cell — a phone
  8. perch — the fish
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. stock — shares
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mark — a grade
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. mark — a trace
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. bat — for baseball

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