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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 120 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. stock — shares
  3. stem — to come from
  4. branch — a division
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. cold — an illness
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. foot — a measure
  10. cold — not warm
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bear — the animal
  17. stock — goods
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. wake — a trail
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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