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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. firm — steady
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. field — for sport
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. spell — magic
  13. stock — shares
  14. firm — decided
  15. spell — a short time
  16. field — a subject
  17. file — a line of people
  18. spell — letters
  19. stock — goods
  20. bass — low music
  21. field — farmland
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. firm — a company

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