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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. stock — shares
  6. band — a music group
  7. file — a tool
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. file — a line of people
  10. stock — goods
  11. stem — to come from
  12. band — a ring
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. file — a document
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — for catching
  19. net — in sport
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. kid — child
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. stem — of a plant

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