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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. net — in sport
  3. stock — shares
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. file — a line of people
  7. scale — size or range
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. vault — a safe
  10. squash — the sport
  11. file — a document
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. stock — goods
  15. squash — to crush
  16. pass — a permit
  17. file — a tool
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. net — after costs
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. scale — in music
  22. net — for catching
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. kid — to tease

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