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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 116 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: straw · prune · stem · chip · squash · wind · bat · stock

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. chip — for betting
  4. chip — to eat
  5. bat — the animal
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — moving air
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. squash — to crush
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — shares
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. prune — to trim
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. squash — the sport
  24. bat — for baseball

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