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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 116 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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  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. firm — steady
  2. drill — the tool
  3. pop — soda
  4. season — of the year
  5. tear — from crying
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. pop — music
  8. stock — goods
  9. stem — to come from
  10. tear — from crying
  11. drill — army training
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. tear — to rip
  15. firm — a company
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. drill — a practice
  19. season — in sport
  20. bat — the animal
  21. pop — to visit
  22. firm — decided
  23. stock — shares
  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