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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. stock — goods
  3. dip — to sink
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stock — shares
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. cold — an illness
  8. club — for golf
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. vault — a safe
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. current — happening now
  18. current — of water
  19. bat — the animal
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. band — a music group
  22. current — electric
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. club — a group

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