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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: object · perch · last · chest · rock · stock · hand · content

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. rock — music
  3. last — finally
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. object — an aim
  6. last — final
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. content — happy
  9. stock — goods
  10. object — a thing
  11. rock — a stone
  12. hand — help
  13. chest — a box
  14. hand — in cards
  15. perch — the fish
  16. content — the amount
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. object — to protest
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — shares
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. chest — of your body

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