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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. stock — shares
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. spring — a coil
  7. stem — to come from
  8. perch — the fish
  9. race — a contest
  10. firm — steady
  11. race — humankind
  12. present — the time now
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. stock — goods
  15. clip — for paper
  16. present — a gift
  17. race — the arms race
  18. firm — decided
  19. spring — of water
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. present — there
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. spring — the season

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