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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: date · hand · present · stock · prune · chest · root · race

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. hand — in cards
  3. race — humankind
  4. hand — help
  5. present — a gift
  6. chest — a box
  7. date — the fruit
  8. root — of a word
  9. prune — to trim
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. race — a contest
  13. chest — of your body
  14. root — of a plant
  15. stock — shares
  16. prune — to trim
  17. present — there
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. root — the cause
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. race — the arms race
  23. present — the time now
  24. chest — of your body

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