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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. bank — for money
  3. last — to go on
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. race — a contest
  6. bank — for money
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bank — of a river
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — the tool
  13. last — final
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. cold — an illness
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. race — humankind
  19. cold — not warm
  20. last — finally
  21. stock — goods
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. race — the arms race

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