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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. tear — from crying
  5. spell — letters
  6. court — for sport
  7. spell — magic
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. tear — from crying
  13. court — of law
  14. field — farmland
  15. court — of a king
  16. stem — to come from
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. spell — a short time
  20. tear — to rip
  21. stock — goods
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. bass — low music
  24. stock — shares

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