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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. wax — to grow
  5. tube — the underground
  6. mate — a friend
  7. drill — the tool
  8. fall — to drop
  9. tube — a container
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. fall — the season
  12. ground — a position
  13. mate — a partner
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stock — goods
  16. drill — a practice
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mate — to breed
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. ground — crushed
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. ground — the earth
  23. fall — to drop
  24. drill — army training

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