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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: last · mine · roll · stock · prune · snap · rash · scale

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — shares
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. roll — a list
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. scale — size or range
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. last — to go on
  15. scale — in music
  16. snap — to click
  17. prune — to trim
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. roll — a cake
  21. prune — to trim
  22. mine — for digging
  23. rash — a series
  24. stock — a soup base

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