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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. game — a match
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stem — to come from
  6. roll — a list
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. shower — rain
  10. march — the month
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. drill — a practice
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. march — the month
  16. drill — army training
  17. shower — to wash
  18. stock — shares
  19. roll — a cake
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. march — music
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. game — wild animals
  24. drill — the tool

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