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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: staff · swing · race · stock · tear · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. staff — employees
  5. race — humankind
  6. swing — in golf
  7. race — a contest
  8. swing — music
  9. tear — to rip
  10. staff — a stick
  11. race — the arms race
  12. swing — to play on
  13. staff — employees
  14. stock — shares
  15. tear — from crying
  16. last — finally
  17. tear — from crying
  18. last — to go on

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