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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. stand — to bear
  3. stock — goods
  4. row — to paddle
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. court — for sport
  7. bat — the animal
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. row — a line
  10. saw — the tool
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stock — shares
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. court — of law
  16. pitch — completely
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. court — of a king
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. pitch — a sports field

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