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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: bat · charge · roll · stock · chest · march · straw · pass

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. charge — electricity
  4. charge — in control
  5. march — the month
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. pass — a permit
  9. chest — of your body
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. march — the month
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. chest — a box
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. bat — the animal
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. roll — a list
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. stock — goods
  22. charge — a price
  23. march — music
  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