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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. row — a line
  3. club — a group
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. bat — the animal
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. row — to paddle
  8. mine — for digging
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. club — for golf
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. chest — a box
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. perch — the fish
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. stock — goods
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. club — for dancing
  24. bat — for baseball

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