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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — for digging
  4. season — in sport
  5. stock — goods
  6. wind — moving air
  7. last — finally
  8. net — in sport
  9. last — to go on
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. stem — to come from
  12. net — for catching
  13. season — of the year
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. wind — moving air
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. stock — shares
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. net — after costs
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. last — final

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