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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: fall · club · stock · rock · mine · fork · nail · bat

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rock — music
  5. fall — the season
  6. fall — to drop
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. club — for dancing
  10. fall — to drop
  11. club — for golf
  12. mine — for digging
  13. fork — in a road
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. stock — goods
  16. rock — a stone
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. stock — shares
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. club — a group
  24. nail — on a finger

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