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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. rash — a series
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. scale — size or range
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. rash — hasty
  7. spell — magic
  8. band — a ring
  9. stand — to bear
  10. spell — letters
  11. cold — an illness
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — the fruit
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. stock — shares
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. band — a music group
  23. spell — a short time
  24. stock — goods

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