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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.

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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wind — moving air
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. kid — to tease
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. stock — goods
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. staff — a stick
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. stand — to bear
  16. staff — employees
  17. staff — employees
  18. fall — the season
  19. kid — child
  20. ground — a position
  21. fall — to drop
  22. ground — the earth
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. ground — crushed

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