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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stem — to come from
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. game — a match
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. present — the time now
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — of water
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. cold — an illness
  13. present — a gift
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. spring — a coil
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fine — high quality
  20. fine — all right
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. present — there

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