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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: chest · pop · bat · rock · stock · swing · shower · board

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pop — music
  5. chest — a box
  6. board — a committee
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. bat — the animal
  9. chest — of your body
  10. swing — music
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. pop — to visit
  13. shower — rain
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. rock — music
  17. rock — a stone
  18. stock — goods
  19. shower — to wash
  20. pop — soda
  21. board — to get on
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. swing — in golf
  24. stock — a soup base

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