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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. file — a tool
  5. present — the time now
  6. stock — goods
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. stock — shares
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. march — the month
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. present — a gift
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. present — there
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. chip — for betting
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a document
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. chip — to eat

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