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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. stock — goods
  3. fall — to drop
  4. ball — a great time
  5. stock — shares
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. clip — to cut
  8. fall — to drop
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — in sport
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. clip — for paper
  14. stem — to come from
  15. vault — a safe
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. fall — the season
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. net — for catching
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. clip — a video
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. stem — of a plant

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