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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. date — the fruit
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. march — music
  11. land — to come down
  12. last — finally
  13. stock — goods
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — a line
  17. row — to paddle
  18. land — a country
  19. march — the month
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. march — the month
  24. land — ground

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