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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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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: stock · scale · mine · date · bat · wax · sharp · kid

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. stock — shares
  6. date — the fruit
  7. wax — to grow
  8. scale — size or range
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. kid — child
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. stock — goods
  14. mine — for digging
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. sharp — clever
  18. scale — in music
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. bat — the animal
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. sharp — exactly

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