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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. wind — moving air
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. kid — to tease
  6. stock — shares
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. season — in sport
  10. cap — a lid
  11. cap — of ice
  12. stem — to come from
  13. kid — child
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cap — a hat
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. chair — a leader
  19. season — of the year
  20. stock — goods
  21. wind — moving air
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. chair — a professorship

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