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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bass — the fish
  6. drill — army training
  7. saw — the tool
  8. charge — in control
  9. stock — shares
  10. drill — a practice
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. drill — the tool
  13. charge — electricity
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. date — the fruit
  16. last — finally
  17. last — final
  18. stock — goods
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. chest — of your body
  21. charge — a price
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. saw — the tool
  24. chest — a box

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