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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. cell — in biology
  6. snap — to click
  7. stem — to come from
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. court — of a king
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. court — for sport
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stock — shares
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — the season
  17. court — of law
  18. spring — of water

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