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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: cold · club · stem · stick · capital · stock · snap · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. capital — a city
  7. club — for golf
  8. cold — not warm
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stock — goods
  11. club — for dancing
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stock — shares
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. club — a group
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. snap — to click
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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