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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. land — a country
  3. bat — the animal
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. cell — a phone
  6. rush — hurry
  7. spell — a short time
  8. ground — the earth
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. land — to come down
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. stock — goods
  14. stock — shares
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. land — ground
  17. ground — a position
  18. spell — magic
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. ground — crushed
  21. cell — in biology
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. spell — letters
  24. rush — a thrill

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