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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. present — a gift
  3. present — there
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. stock — shares
  8. ground — the earth
  9. race — the arms race
  10. scale — size or range
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. tube — a container
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. ground — crushed
  17. tube — the underground
  18. present — the time now
  19. ground — a position
  20. race — a contest
  21. stock — goods
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. scale — in music
  24. race — humankind

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