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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · race · chair · spring · wind · stock

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. race — humankind
  4. bat — the animal
  5. spring — of water
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. stock — shares
  13. spring — the season
  14. stock — goods
  15. spring — a coil
  16. chair — a leader
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race

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