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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: trunk · saw · roll · land · lean · net · stock · bat

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. bat — the animal
  3. net — after costs
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. stock — shares
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. lean — thin
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. net — in sport
  11. land — ground
  12. saw — the tool
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. roll — a cake
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. roll — a list
  19. land — to come down
  20. net — for catching
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. lean — to bend
  24. land — a country

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