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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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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. spring — a coil
  7. stock — goods
  8. stock — shares
  9. spring — the season
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. press — to push
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. press — newspapers
  15. stem — to come from
  16. spring — of water
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. press — a publisher

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