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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: cold · bowl · foot · stock · rock · rule · content · craft

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. rule — a law
  8. cold — not warm
  9. craft — a skill
  10. stock — shares
  11. rock — a stone
  12. content — the amount
  13. stock — goods
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. craft — boats
  19. rock — music
  20. foot — a measure
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. rule — government
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. foot — the bottom

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