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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. mate — a friend
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mate — a partner
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. land — ground
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. stem — to come from
  11. land — to come down
  12. stock — goods
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stock — shares
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. mate — to breed
  17. land — a country
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. sharp — clever
  20. cue — a signal
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cue — for pool
  23. hand — help
  24. stock — a soup base

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