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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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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 · rule · date · scale · march · tear · stock · prune

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tear — to rip
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. tear — from crying
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. prune — to trim
  9. stock — shares
  10. prune — to trim
  11. rule — a law
  12. wind — moving air
  13. date — the fruit
  14. wind — moving air
  15. scale — size or range
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. stock — goods
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. tear — from crying
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. scale — in music
  24. rule — government

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