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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. land — ground
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. stock — shares
  8. fall — to drop
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — to tease
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. land — to come down
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. fall — the season
  16. stock — goods
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. content — the amount
  20. bat — the animal
  21. content — happy
  22. land — a country
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. stock — a soup base

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