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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: net · stock · stem · swing · charge · court · land · tear

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  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. stock — a soup base
  2. tear — from crying
  3. stem — to come from
  4. charge — electricity
  5. court — for sport
  6. net — for catching
  7. land — a country
  8. swing — music
  9. land — to come down
  10. net — after costs
  11. stock — shares
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. court — of a king
  14. tear — from crying
  15. charge — in control
  16. court — of law
  17. net — in sport
  18. land — ground
  19. charge — a price
  20. tear — to rip
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  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