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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: scale · arm · spring · file · cap · land · stock · fine

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — high quality
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. cap — a lid
  8. land — ground
  9. land — to come down
  10. file — a line of people
  11. spring — of water
  12. cap — a hat
  13. stock — goods
  14. spring — a coil
  15. land — a country
  16. scale — size or range
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. stock — shares
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. cap — of ice
  23. spring — the season
  24. scale — in music

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