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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: bass · clip · bowl · stem · stock · field · chest · mine

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. chest — of your body
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — goods
  9. field — a subject
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chest — of your body
  12. clip — a video
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. bass — low music
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. field — for sport
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. field — farmland
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. clip — to cut

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