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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: stem · drill · object · stock · tear · spell · court · mate

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. drill — the tool
  3. object — an aim
  4. court — for sport
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spell — letters
  7. tear — to rip
  8. stock — goods
  9. mate — to breed
  10. spell — a short time
  11. mate — a friend
  12. drill — a practice
  13. mate — a partner
  14. court — of a king
  15. tear — from crying
  16. stem — to come from
  17. object — a thing
  18. stock — shares
  19. object — to protest
  20. spell — magic
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. drill — army training
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — of a plant

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