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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: ball · present · scale · staff · saw · cell · last · stock

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. staff — employees
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. saw — the tool
  5. scale — size or range
  6. stock — goods
  7. staff — employees
  8. cell — a phone
  9. ball — a great time
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. present — there
  12. staff — a stick
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cell — in biology
  15. scale — in music
  16. last — finally
  17. last — to go on
  18. stock — shares
  19. present — the time now
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. present — a gift
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. ball — a dance

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