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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. season — of the year
  3. drill — the tool
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. spell — letters
  7. ground — the earth
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. ground — crushed
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. mark — a trace
  12. mark — a grade
  13. roll — a cake
  14. season — in sport
  15. ground — a position
  16. spell — a short time
  17. stock — goods
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. spell — magic
  20. drill — a practice
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. roll — a list
  24. drill — army training

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