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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. sharp — clever
  7. ground — the earth
  8. roll — a cake
  9. stock — goods
  10. stem — to come from
  11. ground — a position
  12. tear — to rip
  13. ground — crushed
  14. roll — a list
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. object — to protest
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. tear — from crying
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. object — a thing
  21. object — an aim
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. bowl — to roll

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