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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — shares
  5. march — music
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. drill — a practice
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. stem — to come from
  11. row — to paddle
  12. row — a line
  13. stock — goods
  14. shower — rain
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. shower — to wash
  17. march — the month
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. drill — the tool
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. drill — army training

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