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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: chair · chip · file · mine · can · stock · roll · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. can — to be able to
  6. stock — shares
  7. can — a tin
  8. mine — for digging
  9. can — a tin
  10. chip — for betting
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. file — a tool
  13. roll — a cake
  14. chip — to eat
  15. roll — a list
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. stock — goods
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. file — a document
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chair — a leader
  24. stock — a soup base

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