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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 116 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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. tube — the underground
  3. stock — goods
  4. shower — to wash
  5. spell — a short time
  6. root — the cause
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. spell — letters
  10. tube — a container
  11. mark — a trace
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. spell — magic
  14. mine — for digging
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. shower — rain
  17. mark — a grade
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. stem — to come from
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — of a word

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