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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · race · game · stock · ground · march · content · perch

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. race — humankind
  3. game — wild animals
  4. stock — shares
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. content — the amount
  7. ground — a position
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. ground — the earth
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. game — a match
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — a contest
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. content — happy
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stock — goods

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