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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. last — final
  3. bat — the animal
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. stock — shares
  6. face — to confront
  7. swing — music
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mate — a partner
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. deal — to handle
  15. face — to point toward
  16. mate — a friend
  17. hand — help
  18. last — to go on
  19. face — part of the head
  20. mate — to breed
  21. last — finally
  22. stock — goods
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bat — for baseball

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