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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. scale — in music
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. season — in sport
  6. row — a line
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. last — final
  9. drill — army training
  10. fine — all right
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. stock — shares
  13. last — finally
  14. drill — the tool
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. last — to go on
  17. season — of the year
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. fine — high quality
  20. drill — a practice
  21. scale — size or range
  22. stem — to come from
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. row — to paddle

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