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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: bat · wave · kid · ruler · file · wind · stock · mine

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. file — a tool
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kid — to tease
  7. mine — for digging
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. kid — child
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. stock — goods
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. stock — shares
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. file — a line of people
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. file — a document

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