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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. pit — a hole
  5. tube — the underground
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. march — the month
  10. pit — in a race
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — finally
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. stock — shares
  15. wax — to grow
  16. last — final
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. stock — goods
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. tube — a container

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