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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. cold — not warm
  4. last — to go on
  5. content — happy
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stem — to come from
  8. firm — steady
  9. last — final
  10. firm — decided
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. bass — low music
  17. firm — a company
  18. stock — shares
  19. last — finally
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. stock — goods
  23. cold — an illness
  24. content — the amount

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