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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 · stem · tube · stock · charge · clip · date · mate

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mate — a partner
  4. stock — goods
  5. charge — a price
  6. mate — a friend
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. chest — a box
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. stem — to come from
  12. mate — to breed
  13. stock — shares
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. clip — a video
  16. date — the fruit
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. charge — in control
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. charge — electricity
  23. tube — a container
  24. tube — the underground

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