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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. stock — goods
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bat — the animal
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a hat
  11. bass — the fish
  12. file — a document
  13. present — a gift
  14. pop — soda
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. file — a tool
  17. present — there
  18. hand — help
  19. pop — to visit
  20. file — a line of people
  21. stock — shares
  22. bass — low music
  23. present — the time now
  24. pop — music

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