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

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chip — for betting
  4. stock — goods
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. rush — hurry
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. chip — to eat
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stock — shares
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. rush — to hurry

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