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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: file · land · march · racket · lie · cap · stock · last

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — goods
  5. file — a tool
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. land — a country
  8. march — music
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. last — final
  11. cap — a hat
  12. lie — to recline
  13. march — the month
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. march — the month
  16. file — a line of people
  17. last — finally
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. last — to go on
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a lid
  22. stock — shares
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. file — a document

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