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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stock — shares
  3. chest — of your body
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fall — the season
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bass — the fish
  15. tear — to rip
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. bass — low music
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bat — the animal
  21. chest — a box
  22. fall — to drop
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. bowl — to roll

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