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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. hand — help
  3. bear — the animal
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. rest — what's left
  7. bear — the animal
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. rest — a break
  10. stock — shares
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. rest — what's left
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. swing — to play on
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. stock — goods
  18. mine — for digging
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. swing — in golf
  21. drill — army training
  22. hand — in cards
  23. drill — a practice
  24. swing — music

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