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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. ball — a dance
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — to play on
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. saw — the tool
  10. swing — music
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. cold — an illness
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. cold — not warm
  18. staff — employees
  19. stock — goods
  20. saw — the tool
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. ball — a great time
  23. stock — shares
  24. ball — a round shape

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