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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: stock · tube · mine · kid · pit · roll · land · race

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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. race — humankind
  4. roll — a cake
  5. kid — child
  6. pit — a hole
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. race — the arms race
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. stock — shares
  15. tube — a container
  16. stock — goods
  17. race — a contest
  18. land — to come down
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. land — a country
  21. pit — in a race
  22. tube — the underground
  23. roll — a list
  24. land — ground

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