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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. drill — army training
  3. toast — bread
  4. stem — to come from
  5. hand — in cards
  6. stock — shares
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. bat — the animal
  10. drill — a practice
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. stock — goods
  15. drill — the tool
  16. hand — help
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. land — a country
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — ground
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fan — a supporter

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