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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 120 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — the earth
  5. staff — employees
  6. current — electric
  7. current — happening now
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — in music
  10. court — of law
  11. stock — goods
  12. ground — a position
  13. drill — army training
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. staff — employees
  16. court — of a king
  17. last — finally
  18. court — for sport
  19. staff — a stick
  20. drill — the tool
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. drill — a practice
  24. current — of water

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