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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. stock — shares
  3. tube — a container
  4. tube — the underground
  5. stock — goods
  6. stem — to come from
  7. spring — a coil
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — to point toward
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. kid — child
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. face — part of the head
  18. rule — government
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. spring — the season
  22. rule — a law
  23. kid — to tease
  24. tube — in a tire

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