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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: tear · kid · press · coach · stock · file

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. kid — to tease
  3. press — newspapers
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — shares
  7. press — to push
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kid — child
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. file — a line of people
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. tear — from crying
  14. file — a document
  15. press — a publisher
  16. file — a tool
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. tear — to rip

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