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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. wax — to grow
  3. stem — to come from
  4. squash — to crush
  5. hand — help
  6. squash — the sport
  7. game — wild animals
  8. stock — shares
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. cell — in biology
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. game — a match
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. hand — part of the body
  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