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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. stock — goods
  3. sharp — clever
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. net — after costs
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — to paddle
  8. race — the arms race
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. stock — shares
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. net — in sport
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. race — a contest
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. row — a line
  20. race — humankind
  21. rule — a law
  22. rule — government
  23. net — for catching
  24. sharp — with an edge

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