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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 116 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. root — the cause
  5. wind — moving air
  6. club — for dancing
  7. mark — a grade
  8. root — of a plant
  9. stock — goods
  10. land — ground
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. last — to go on
  13. last — final
  14. last — finally
  15. mark — a trace
  16. club — for golf
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. land — to come down
  19. root — of a word
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. stock — shares
  23. land — a country
  24. club — a group

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