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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. stock — shares
  4. kid — to tease
  5. stem — to come from
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — a friend
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. kid — child
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. scale — in music
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. row — a line
  17. stock — goods
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. bark — to shout
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. row — to paddle
  24. scale — size or range

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