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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: mine · fall · stock · scale · field · face · last · wound

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. stock — shares
  5. scale — size or range
  6. mine — for digging
  7. face — to point toward
  8. wound — an injury
  9. fall — to drop
  10. stock — goods
  11. field — farmland
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fall — the season
  14. field — for sport
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. fall — to drop
  18. last — finally
  19. face — to confront
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. last — final
  22. last — to go on
  23. field — a subject
  24. face — part of the head

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