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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 116 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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — finally
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. board — to get on
  7. march — the month
  8. bass — the fish
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bass — low music
  13. last — final
  14. saw — the tool
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. march — music
  17. kid — child
  18. march — the month
  19. scale — in music
  20. board — a committee
  21. stock — goods
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. kid — to tease

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