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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. season — of the year
  3. rash — a series
  4. spring — of water
  5. stock — goods
  6. last — final
  7. spring — the season
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. rash — hasty
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. season — in sport
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stock — shares
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. last — finally

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