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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. season — of the year
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. clip — to cut
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. stock — goods
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. fork — in a road
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rest — what's left
  12. season — in sport
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. rest — what's left
  18. clip — for paper
  19. stem — to come from
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. clip — a video
  22. stock — shares
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. degree — temperature

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