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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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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: perch · bowl · stock · root · stick · spring · kid · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. kid — to tease
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. race — the arms race
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. stock — shares
  8. root — the cause
  9. perch — the fish
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. root — of a plant
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. race — humankind
  16. stock — goods
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. spring — of water
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. spring — the season
  21. root — of a word
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. perch — for a bird

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