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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: bass · tear · pop · leaves · stock · fall · roll · stem

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — to visit
  4. roll — a list
  5. stem — to come from
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. fall — the season
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — shares
  10. tear — from crying
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. fall — to drop
  14. tear — from crying
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. pop — music
  17. bass — low music
  18. bass — the fish
  19. fall — to drop
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. tear — to rip
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stock — a soup base

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