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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. last — final
  3. rest — what's left
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. rest — a break
  6. club — for golf
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. row — a line
  9. stock — shares
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. club — a group
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. last — to go on
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — to grow
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stock — goods
  18. last — finally
  19. firm — steady
  20. firm — decided
  21. rest — what's left
  22. club — for dancing
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a quarrel

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