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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fall — to drop
  3. suit — in cards
  4. shower — to wash
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. race — humankind
  8. land — to come down
  9. race — a contest
  10. mine — for digging
  11. suit — to fit
  12. march — the month
  13. race — the arms race
  14. suit — clothes
  15. stock — shares
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. fall — to drop
  19. march — music
  20. fall — the season
  21. shower — rain
  22. stock — goods
  23. land — a country
  24. march — the month

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