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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. stem — to come from
  3. lean — to bend
  4. rest — what's left
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stock — goods
  7. degree — from a university
  8. hand — help
  9. capital — money
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — shares
  12. land — a country
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. lean — thin
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. degree — an amount
  19. capital — a city
  20. degree — temperature
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — a break
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. hand — in cards

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