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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. fall — to drop
  5. land — to come down
  6. stock — shares
  7. spring — the season
  8. land — a country
  9. stock — goods
  10. spring — of water
  11. fall — to drop
  12. spring — a coil
  13. land — ground
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. plane — a tool
  18. fall — the season

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