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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. stock — goods
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a leader
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. net — in sport
  9. stock — shares
  10. sharp — clever
  11. stem — to come from
  12. net — after costs
  13. spring — of water
  14. net — for catching
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. spring — the season
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. rash — a series
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — to tease
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. spring — a coil

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