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

Word bank: chest · stock · racket · drill · pit · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stock — shares
  5. drill — army training
  6. pit — in a race
  7. tear — to rip
  8. stock — goods
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. chest — a box
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. drill — a practice
  14. chest — of your body
  15. drill — the tool
  16. pit — a hole
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. chest — of your body

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