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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 120 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: fork · last · object · mine · cold · stock · fall · rash

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fork — in a road
  4. fall — the season
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. rash — hasty
  11. fall — to drop
  12. last — to go on
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. fall — to drop
  16. cold — not warm
  17. object — an aim
  18. last — finally
  19. object — a thing
  20. stock — goods
  21. mine — for digging
  22. rash — a series
  23. stock — shares
  24. last — final

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