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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 116 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 · ruler · stock · rule · mine · wind · prune · bound

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. stock — shares
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wind — moving air
  5. prune — to trim
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. rule — a law
  8. stock — goods
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. bound — certain
  13. bound — tied together
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stem — to come from
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. bound — obliged
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. mine — an explosive

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