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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cell — a phone
  3. game — wild animals
  4. stock — goods
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. firm — steady
  7. bat — the animal
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cell — in biology
  10. game — a match
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. saw — the tool
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. firm — a company
  15. hand — help
  16. saw — the tool
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. clip — a video
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. clip — to cut
  22. stock — shares
  23. firm — decided
  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