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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 120 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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. craft — boats
  3. last — to go on
  4. current — happening now
  5. last — finally
  6. craft — a skill
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. pop — soda
  9. stem — to come from
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. current — of water
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — a phone
  14. last — final
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. pop — to visit
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. current — electric
  20. stock — goods
  21. pop — music
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. stock — a soup base

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