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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. stock — shares
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pop — music
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. pop — to visit
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. pop — soda
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rule — government
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — of water
  21. stock — goods
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bat — for baseball

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