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

Word bank: swing · dip · tear · bowl · stock · file

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. dip — to sink
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stock — goods
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. file — a line of people
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. swing — in golf
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. file — a document
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. tear — to rip
  15. stock — shares
  16. tear — from crying
  17. swing — music
  18. file — a tool

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