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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. last — finally
  3. spell — magic
  4. content — happy
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. last — final
  8. spell — letters
  9. fall — the season
  10. stock — shares
  11. fork — in a road
  12. lie — to recline
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. last — to go on
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. degree — temperature
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. degree — an amount
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. spell — a short time
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. degree — from a university

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