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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wind — moving air
  3. last — finally
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. stock — shares
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. stock — goods
  9. wind — moving air
  10. craft — boats
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. prune — to trim
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. last — to go on
  20. craft — a skill
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. prune — to trim
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fork — in a road

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