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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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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: kick · stock · wind · stem · tear · saw · scale · kid

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. tear — from crying
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — shares
  6. stock — goods
  7. kick — in football
  8. scale — size or range
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — child
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. scale — in music
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. saw — the tool
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. stem — to come from

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