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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — goods
  5. ground — the earth
  6. chest — of your body
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bank — for money
  9. root — of a plant
  10. bore — to drill
  11. chest — of your body
  12. ground — a position
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. last — finally
  15. root — of a word
  16. last — to go on
  17. root — the cause
  18. bore — to tire
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. bank — for money
  22. field — farmland
  23. chest — a box
  24. bank — of a river

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