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

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. bass — the fish
  3. board — a committee
  4. stock — shares
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. object — to protest
  7. cap — a lid
  8. kid — child
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — of ice
  13. object — a thing
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. object — an aim
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. kid — to tease
  21. board — to get on
  22. bass — low music
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. stock — a soup base

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