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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — goods
  4. ground — crushed
  5. squash — the sport
  6. ball — a great time
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. ball — a dance
  9. sharp — clever
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — to crush
  14. ground — a position
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. ground — the earth
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bore — to drill
  21. bore — to tire
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — to come from
  24. ball — a round shape

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