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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. file — a document
  4. bat — the animal
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. stock — goods
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. scale — size or range
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. march — the month
  16. dip — to sink
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a tool
  19. march — the month
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. scale — in music
  24. dip — a sauce

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