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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. tube — a container
  3. craft — a skill
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. tube — the underground
  8. pop — music
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. stock — shares
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wound — an injury
  13. craft — boats
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. pop — to visit
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stem — to come from
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pop — soda
  24. stock — goods

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