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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: rest · last · bat · straw · board · wave · stock · spring

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. bat — the animal
  3. last — final
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. spring — of water
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. board — a committee
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. rest — what's left
  15. spring — a coil
  16. last — finally
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. stock — goods
  19. last — to go on
  20. rest — a break
  21. stock — shares
  22. spring — the season
  23. rest — what's left
  24. board — a flat piece

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