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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. drill — the tool
  3. saw — the tool
  4. pit — a hole
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pit — in a race
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. stock — shares
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. drill — a practice
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. tear — to rip
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. drill — army training
  21. saw — the tool
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bat — the animal
  24. coach — a trainer

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