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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. last — finally
  3. file — a line of people
  4. last — to go on
  5. clip — to cut
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. file — a document
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — a phone
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. plane — a tool
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. fork — in a road
  17. stock — shares
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. file — a tool
  20. clip — for paper
  21. dip — to sink
  22. clip — a video
  23. last — final
  24. stock — a soup base

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