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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 124 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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. wound — an injury
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. cap — a lid
  6. net — for catching
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. cap — of ice
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. file — a tool
  16. fine — high quality
  17. net — after costs
  18. file — a document
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fine — all right
  22. cap — a hat
  23. stock — goods
  24. file — a line of people

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