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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. stock — shares
  3. track — a path
  4. track — a song
  5. bass — the fish
  6. hand — help
  7. stock — goods
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. track — to keep track
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bear — the animal
  19. chest — of your body
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. chest — a box
  22. stem — to come from
  23. bass — low music
  24. hand — in cards

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