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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. mark — a grade
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stock — shares
  5. mine — for digging
  6. last — finally
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. hand — help
  11. chip — for betting
  12. shower — rain
  13. mark — a trace
  14. stem — to come from
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. last — to go on
  17. hand — in cards
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. chip — to eat
  20. stock — goods
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. shower — to wash
  23. last — final
  24. hand — part of the body

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