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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. land — to come down
  3. shower — to wash
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stock — goods
  7. game — a match
  8. game — wild animals
  9. shower — rain
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. land — ground
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. saw — the tool
  16. stem — to come from
  17. saw — the tool
  18. chip — for betting
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — shares
  21. chip — to eat
  22. land — a country
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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