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

Word bank: cell · scale · track · mark · stock · prune · last · firm

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. prune — to trim
  3. track — to keep track
  4. firm — decided
  5. mark — a trace
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. firm — steady
  8. last — final
  9. cell — a phone
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. track — a path
  12. firm — a company
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. scale — size or range
  16. cell — in biology
  17. track — a song
  18. last — finally
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. last — to go on
  21. scale — in music
  22. mark — a grade
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. stock — goods

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