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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bass — low music
  3. stock — goods
  4. track — a song
  5. shower — to wash
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. chip — to eat
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bass — the fish
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. last — final
  12. shower — rain
  13. race — humankind
  14. track — a path
  15. race — a contest
  16. last — to go on
  17. race — the arms race
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. chip — for betting
  21. stock — shares
  22. track — to keep track
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. bass — the instrument

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