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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. stock — goods
  3. spell — magic
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. firm — steady
  6. last — final
  7. file — a tool
  8. spell — letters
  9. file — a document
  10. firm — decided
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. ball — a dance
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. perch — the fish
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — to trim
  18. spell — a short time
  19. stock — shares
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — finally
  22. file — a line of people
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. firm — a company

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