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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: wind · fall · mate · stock · spell · key · bat · prune

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. stock — goods
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mate — a friend
  7. key — for a lock
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — the animal
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. spell — magic
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mate — a partner
  14. prune — to trim
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — a short time
  18. mate — to breed
  19. key — in music
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. key — the most important part
  22. prune — to trim
  23. stock — shares
  24. fall — the season

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