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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. lean — to bend
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. rest — a break
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. lean — thin
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. key — the most important part
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. key — in music
  12. spell — magic
  13. bat — the animal
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — letters
  17. hand — in cards
  18. key — for a lock
  19. rest — what's left
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. stock — shares
  22. hand — help
  23. rest — what's left
  24. stock — goods

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