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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. stock — goods
  4. file — a line of people
  5. can — to be able to
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. file — a tool
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — a phone
  12. land — to come down
  13. bat — the animal
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. land — ground
  18. land — a country
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. can — a tin
  21. stock — shares
  22. file — a document
  23. tube — the underground
  24. can — a tin

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