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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: file · patient · hand · stock · tube · game

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. tube — a container
  3. file — a line of people
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. hand — help
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. game — a match
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. tube — the underground
  16. stock — shares
  17. game — wild animals
  18. stock — goods

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