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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: wave · stem · chest · race · stock · clip · game · shower

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. shower — rain
  4. race — humankind
  5. game — wild animals
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. clip — a video
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. game — a match
  16. race — a contest
  17. stock — shares
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. stock — goods
  20. shower — to wash
  21. race — the arms race
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — to come from
  24. chest — of your body

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