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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: calf · wind · bat · mine · stock · march · row · cap

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. row — to paddle
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. march — the month
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cap — of ice
  8. mine — for digging
  9. stock — shares
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. cap — a lid
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. row — a line
  14. march — the month
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. march — music
  17. stock — goods
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. cap — a hat
  21. wind — moving air
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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