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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. stock — goods
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. fall — to drop
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stem — to come from
  7. shower — to wash
  8. pop — music
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. present — there
  11. fall — the season
  12. last — finally
  13. last — final
  14. stock — shares
  15. last — to go on
  16. present — the time now
  17. present — a gift
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. pop — to visit
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. pop — soda
  24. mine — for digging

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