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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. hand — in cards
  3. stock — goods
  4. ball — a dance
  5. hand — help
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. bat — the animal
  8. tube — the underground
  9. prune — to trim
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. drill — the tool
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. tube — a container
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. ball — a great time
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. drill — army training
  22. chair — a leader
  23. drill — a practice
  24. stock — shares

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