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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. stock — shares
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stock — goods
  5. fall — the season
  6. can — a tin
  7. court — for sport
  8. march — the month
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — the arms race
  11. court — of law
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. race — humankind
  17. can — a tin
  18. court — of a king
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — for digging
  21. wind — moving air
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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