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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. stem — to come from
  3. last — to go on
  4. drill — army training
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. mark — a grade
  8. drill — the tool
  9. stock — shares
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — in sport
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. scale — in music
  15. last — finally
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. last — final
  18. drill — a practice
  19. mark — a trace
  20. stock — goods
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. ball — a great time
  23. scale — size or range
  24. stem — a stem cell

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