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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: sharp · stem · band · spell · race · tear · stock · net

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. stock — goods
  3. race — the arms race
  4. race — a contest
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. stock — shares
  7. stem — to come from
  8. race — humankind
  9. net — after costs
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. band — a music group
  14. tear — to rip
  15. net — in sport
  16. tear — from crying
  17. spell — letters
  18. tear — from crying
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. net — for catching
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — magic
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. band — a ring

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