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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. chest — a box
  3. squash — to crush
  4. stock — goods
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — letters
  10. tube — a container
  11. cell — a phone
  12. stock — shares
  13. march — music
  14. bat — the animal
  15. march — the month
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. squash — the sport
  18. tube — the underground
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. cell — in biology
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. march — the month

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