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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: kick · present · cold · bulb · pit · stem · file · stock

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. stock — shares
  3. kick — in football
  4. pit — in a race
  5. bulb — for light
  6. stock — goods
  7. present — there
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cold — an illness
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. file — a tool
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. present — the time now
  18. pit — a hole
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. bulb — for light
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. file — a document

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