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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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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: stand · wind · date · bat · cold · stock · stem · toast

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. bat — the animal
  6. toast — bread
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. stock — goods
  11. wind — moving air
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. stock — shares
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wind — moving air
  18. stand — to bear
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. date — the fruit
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stem — a stem cell

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