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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. staff — a stick
  3. land — ground
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. stock — goods
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. stock — shares
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. staff — employees
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. row — to paddle
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. land — to come down
  23. row — a line
  24. staff — employees

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