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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. land — ground
  3. scale — in music
  4. land — a country
  5. press — a publisher
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. object — to protest
  8. race — humankind
  9. land — to come down
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a line
  12. race — the arms race
  13. object — a thing
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — final
  16. scale — size or range
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — shares
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. race — a contest
  22. last — finally
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — to push

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