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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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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: board · cold · row · squash · stem · stock

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — a line
  4. row — to paddle
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. squash — the sport
  7. board — to get on
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. stem — to come from
  11. board — a committee
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. cold — an illness
  14. squash — to crush
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stock — shares
  18. stock — goods

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