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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chip — to eat
  4. season — of the year
  5. last — final
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. stock — goods
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. stock — shares
  14. season — in sport
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. chip — for betting
  17. cold — not warm
  18. last — to go on
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. wax — to grow
  24. cold — an illness

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