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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: stock · last · season · perch · squash · cue · stem · mine

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. stock — shares
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — of the year
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. cue — a hint
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cue — a signal
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. mine — for digging
  12. last — final
  13. last — finally
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cue — for pool
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. perch — the fish
  20. stock — goods
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. season — in sport
  24. last — to go on

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