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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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. cold — the Cold War
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bank — for money
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. rock — music
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. kick — in football
  12. last — finally
  13. fork — in a road
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. bank — of a river
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. root — the cause
  18. cold — an illness
  19. last — final
  20. bank — for money
  21. rock — a stone
  22. stock — goods
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — of a word

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