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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. hand — help
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. hand — in cards
  5. stock — goods
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. row — a line
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. tear — to rip
  14. row — to paddle
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. tear — from crying
  18. stock — shares
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. tear — from crying
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. coach — a trainer

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