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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 120 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: bowl · foot · chest · wind · staff · saw · stock · lean

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. staff — employees
  3. lean — to bend
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. chest — a box
  8. foot — a measure
  9. stock — shares
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. lean — thin
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. chest — of your body
  18. staff — employees
  19. stock — goods
  20. saw — the tool
  21. chest — of your body
  22. staff — a stick
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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