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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. kid — to tease
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. perch — the fish
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. root — of a word
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. kid — child
  12. root — of a plant
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. land — a country
  15. stock — goods
  16. land — ground
  17. root — the cause
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. stock — shares
  22. pitch — completely
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. land — to come down

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