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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: chip · ground · march · last · scale · squash · stem · object

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. march — the month
  3. chip — to eat
  4. last — final
  5. squash — the sport
  6. object — an aim
  7. last — finally
  8. last — to go on
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. ground — crushed
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. ground — the earth
  14. squash — to crush
  15. scale — size or range
  16. stem — to come from
  17. object — a thing
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. scale — in music
  23. chip — for betting
  24. ground — a position

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