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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fall — to drop
  5. net — after costs
  6. stock — goods
  7. drill — army training
  8. net — for catching
  9. march — music
  10. bank — for money
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fall — to drop
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. stock — shares
  15. chest — a box
  16. march — the month
  17. bank — of a river
  18. fall — the season
  19. drill — a practice
  20. march — the month
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. net — in sport
  23. drill — the tool
  24. leaves — to go away

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