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

Word bank: ruler · kid · leaves · row · cell · stock

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. stock — shares
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. row — a line
  9. row — to paddle
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — child
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — a phone
  16. stock — goods
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. ruler — for measuring

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