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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: row · date · bass · stock · season · bark · cold · stem

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. date — the fruit
  8. bark — to shout
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stem — to come from
  11. bass — low music
  12. season — in sport
  13. stock — goods
  14. row — a line
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. season — of the year
  18. bass — the fish
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. row — to paddle
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. stock — shares
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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