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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  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 — shares
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. hand — in cards
  4. stock — goods
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. dip — to sink
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wax — to grow
  11. file — a line of people
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. hand — help
  14. chip — to eat
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. file — a tool
  18. foot — a measure
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. chip — for betting
  21. file — a document
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. foot — the bottom
  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