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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: stock · cell · content · saw · object · chest · spring · current

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spring — of water
  3. current — happening now
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. stock — shares
  6. current — electric
  7. current — of water
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. object — a thing
  10. saw — the tool
  11. spring — the season
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. object — an aim
  14. spring — a coil
  15. chest — of your body
  16. stock — goods
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. content — the amount
  20. object — to protest
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. saw — the tool

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