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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: tear · hand · toast · mine · land · last · stock · bass

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. stock — shares
  4. land — ground
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. tear — to rip
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. bass — the fish
  10. stock — goods
  11. hand — help
  12. last — to go on
  13. tear — from crying
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. tear — from crying
  17. mine — for digging
  18. last — final
  19. toast — bread
  20. last — finally
  21. bass — low music
  22. land — to come down
  23. hand — in cards
  24. land — a country

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