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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: stem · squash · board · land · rash · rest · stock · march

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. rash — hasty
  2. march — the month
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — goods
  5. rest — what's left
  6. march — the month
  7. squash — the sport
  8. stem — to come from
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. rash — a series
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. board — a committee
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. board — to get on
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. rest — a break
  19. march — music
  20. land — ground
  21. rest — what's left
  22. land — a country
  23. land — to come down
  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