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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. march — the month
  8. stem — to come from
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. stand — to bear
  11. march — the month
  12. march — music
  13. stock — shares
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wound — an injury
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. mine — for digging
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. stock — goods
  23. pound — a weight
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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