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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: tear · stock · bat · date · stick · file · spring · toast

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. date — the fruit
  8. stock — shares
  9. tear — to rip
  10. stock — goods
  11. toast — bread
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a tool
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. file — a document
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. tear — from crying
  24. spring — a coil

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