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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. mine — for digging
  5. foot — a measure
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. deal — to handle
  8. stock — shares
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. last — finally
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. season — of the year
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. file — a document
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. file — a line of people
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. last — to go on
  22. file — a tool
  23. season — in sport
  24. last — final

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