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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. clip — to cut
  4. root — the cause
  5. stock — shares
  6. land — a country
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. clip — for paper
  9. last — finally
  10. land — ground
  11. clip — a video
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. present — the time now
  14. root — of a word
  15. last — to go on
  16. hand — help
  17. land — to come down
  18. present — there
  19. root — of a plant
  20. stock — goods
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. hand — in cards
  23. present — a gift
  24. plane — a tool

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