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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. stock — goods
  3. game — wild animals
  4. net — in sport
  5. net — after costs
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. game — a match
  14. tube — the underground
  15. march — music
  16. tube — a container
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. net — for catching
  23. stock — shares
  24. stem — to come from

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