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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. game — wild animals
  3. root — of a word
  4. stock — shares
  5. stem — to come from
  6. band — a ring
  7. spring — the season
  8. root — the cause
  9. mate — to breed
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. spring — a coil
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. tear — to rip
  16. stock — goods
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. root — of a plant
  19. mate — a partner
  20. mate — a friend
  21. game — a match
  22. spring — of water
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. band — a music group

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