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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. fall — to drop
  3. deal — to handle
  4. hand — in cards
  5. fall — the season
  6. net — in sport
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. stock — goods
  12. stem — to come from
  13. fall — to drop
  14. chest — of your body
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. net — after costs
  18. march — music
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. chest — of your body
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. chest — a box
  23. net — for catching
  24. stock — shares

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