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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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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: stock · swing · prune · leaves · wind · race · shower · last

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. shower — rain
  3. stock — goods
  4. race — a contest
  5. swing — music
  6. race — the arms race
  7. stock — shares
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wind — moving air
  11. swing — to play on
  12. wind — moving air
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. swing — in golf
  15. last — to go on
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. last — final
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. race — humankind
  22. prune — to trim
  23. shower — to wash
  24. last — finally

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