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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: mark · cold · craft · rash · clip · stem · nail · stock

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. 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. stem — a stem cell
  2. clip — to cut
  3. craft — a skill
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stock — shares
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. craft — boats
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rash — hasty
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mark — a grade
  18. mark — a trace
  19. stem — to come from
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. clip — a video
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. rash — a series
  24. 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