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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. race — the arms race
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. stock — shares
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. kid — to tease
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — a division
  14. kid — child
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. file — a line of people
  18. lie — to recline
  19. file — a tool
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. race — humankind
  23. stock — goods
  24. file — a document

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