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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. land — a country
  3. root — of a word
  4. last — finally
  5. last — final
  6. fine — all right
  7. saw — the tool
  8. stock — goods
  9. ground — a position
  10. fine — high quality
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. rock — music
  13. last — to go on
  14. land — ground
  15. root — of a plant
  16. ground — the earth
  17. stock — shares
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. land — to come down
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. ground — crushed
  22. rock — a stone
  23. root — the cause
  24. saw — the tool

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