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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  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. land — to come down
  2. file — a line of people
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. land — a country
  5. club — for golf
  6. file — a tool
  7. bear — the animal
  8. mine — for digging
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — goods
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. land — ground
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. bear — the animal
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. file — a document
  22. club — for dancing
  23. club — a group
  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