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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. stem — to come from
  3. cell — a phone
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. land — a country
  6. land — ground
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. track — a song
  9. can — to be able to
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. track — to keep track
  12. can — a tin
  13. cell — in biology
  14. degree — from a university
  15. stock — shares
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. track — a path
  18. stock — goods
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. degree — an amount
  22. can — a tin
  23. degree — temperature
  24. land — to come down

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