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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. stock — goods
  3. pit — a hole
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. stem — to come from
  6. stock — shares
  7. track — to keep track
  8. branch — a division
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. wax — to grow
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. pit — in a race
  14. hand — help
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. track — a song
  23. track — a path
  24. wax — in the ear

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