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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 116 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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. cell — in biology
  3. shower — to wash
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cell — a phone
  7. club — for dancing
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. wind — moving air
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. lean — to bend
  13. club — a group
  14. stock — goods
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. lean — thin
  20. shower — rain
  21. club — for golf
  22. bat — the animal
  23. pitch — completely
  24. bat — in an idiom

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