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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. spring — a coil
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. hand — in cards
  7. key — for a lock
  8. stock — goods
  9. file — a document
  10. stock — shares
  11. last — to go on
  12. file — a tool
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. last — finally
  15. hand — help
  16. spring — of water
  17. last — final
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. key — the most important part
  20. pitch — completely
  21. key — in music
  22. spring — the season
  23. file — a line of people
  24. hand — part of the body

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