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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. kick — in football
  3. file — a document
  4. shower — to wash
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stock — shares
  7. charge — electricity
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. cell — a phone
  10. charge — a price
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cell — in biology
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. file — a line of people
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. stem — to come from
  18. toast — bread
  19. stock — goods
  20. shower — rain
  21. file — a tool
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. charge — in control
  24. kick — with a leg

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