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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: cue · file · stem · spring · stock · face · field · staff

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. field — a subject
  4. file — a tool
  5. face — to confront
  6. cue — a hint
  7. stock — goods
  8. cue — for pool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. spring — the season
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. stock — shares
  13. file — a document
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. staff — employees
  16. spring — a coil
  17. field — for sport
  18. stem — to come from
  19. staff — a stick
  20. face — to point toward
  21. staff — employees
  22. face — part of the head
  23. field — farmland
  24. cue — a signal

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