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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. file — a line of people
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pit — in a race
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. game — a match
  10. drill — the tool
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. drill — army training
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a tool
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. present — there
  18. game — wild animals
  19. pit — a hole
  20. drill — a practice
  21. stock — shares
  22. present — a gift
  23. march — the month
  24. present — the time now

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