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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. track — a path
  5. stem — to come from
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. stock — goods
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. track — a song
  14. content — happy
  15. court — of a king
  16. track — to keep track
  17. stock — shares
  18. court — for sport
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. content — the amount
  23. court — of law
  24. cold — an illness

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