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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. swing — to play on
  3. scale — in music
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. scale — size or range
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. saw — the tool
  8. mine — for digging
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. stem — to come from
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. swing — in golf
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. saw — the tool
  17. swing — music
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. stock — goods
  22. last — final
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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