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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. stock — shares
  3. tear — from crying
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. rush — hurry
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. tear — from crying
  10. stock — goods
  11. club — for dancing
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. cap — a hat
  15. club — for golf
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. file — a tool
  20. cap — a lid
  21. tear — to rip
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cap — of ice
  24. bat — the animal

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