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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · bark · cell · stock · row · stem

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in biology
  3. stock — goods
  4. row — to paddle
  5. stock — shares
  6. row — a line
  7. bark — to shout
  8. chest — a box
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. chest — of your body
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stem — to come from
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. bark — of a tree

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