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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. stock — shares
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. stock — goods
  6. pop — soda
  7. stem — to come from
  8. row — a line
  9. pop — to visit
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cap — of ice
  14. staff — employees
  15. mark — a grade
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. staff — a stick
  19. pop — music
  20. cap — a hat
  21. mark — a trace
  22. cap — a lid
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. row — to paddle

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