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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: stock · cell · season · trunk · land · cold · deal · spring

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stock — goods
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. deal — to handle
  6. spring — the season
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. spring — a coil
  9. season — in sport
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cold — not warm
  13. land — to come down
  14. spring — of water
  15. land — ground
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. season — of the year
  21. cell — a phone
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. land — a country
  24. stock — shares

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