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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 120 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. chest — a box
  4. hand — help
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — shares
  7. capital — money
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. row — to paddle
  11. rash — a series
  12. chest — of your body
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. press — newspapers
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. chest — of your body
  21. press — a publisher
  22. capital — a city
  23. press — to push
  24. hand — in cards

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