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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  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. rock — music
  2. rush — hurry
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. stock — shares
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. race — the arms race
  8. hand — help
  9. stock — goods
  10. rock — a stone
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. last — to go on
  16. race — humankind
  17. hand — in cards
  18. race — a contest
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. last — finally
  22. season — of the year
  23. rock — to move gently
  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