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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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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: stock · object · bat · kick · cell · bank

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. bank — for money
  3. bank — of a river
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bank — for money
  6. object — to protest
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. kick — in football
  11. cell — in biology
  12. object — a thing
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. bat — the animal
  16. object — an aim
  17. stock — goods
  18. kick — with a leg

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