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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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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: stem · squash · arm · spring · stock · ball · land · tube

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. squash — to crush
  5. stock — shares
  6. tube — a container
  7. land — to come down
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. stock — goods
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. squash — the sport
  12. spring — a coil
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. land — a country
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. tube — the underground
  17. ball — a dance
  18. spring — the season
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. land — ground
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. spring — of water
  23. stem — to come from
  24. ball — a great time

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