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

Word bank: bat · mark · rule · content · jam · ground · row · stock

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rule — government
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. content — the amount
  11. stock — goods
  12. content — happy
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. rule — a law
  17. mark — a trace
  18. ground — the earth
  19. row — a line
  20. row — to paddle
  21. ground — crushed
  22. mark — a grade
  23. ground — a position
  24. stock — shares

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