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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  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. stock — shares
  2. rock — music
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. pit — a hole
  5. fork — in a road
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. swing — to play on
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cell — in biology
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. cell — a phone
  17. swing — in golf
  18. rock — a stone
  19. pit — in a race
  20. last — final
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. swing — music
  23. spring — of water
  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