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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. snap — to click
  3. stock — shares
  4. stem — to come from
  5. can — a tin
  6. court — for sport
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bound — certain
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. bound — obliged
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. stock — goods
  15. bound — tied together
  16. court — of law
  17. can — a tin
  18. branch — a division
  19. can — to be able to
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. court — of a king
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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