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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. cell — in biology
  5. land — a country
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — humankind
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. stock — shares
  11. cell — a phone
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stock — goods
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. land — ground
  16. scale — in music
  17. game — wild animals
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. kick — in football
  20. scale — size or range
  21. prune — to trim
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. land — to come down
  24. game — a match

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