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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: swing · land · stock · chair · race · cabinet · pitcher · tube

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — a country
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. race — the arms race
  5. tube — a container
  6. swing — to play on
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. tube — the underground
  9. stock — goods
  10. race — a contest
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. swing — music
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. swing — in golf
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. chair — a leader
  22. race — humankind
  23. stock — shares
  24. land — to come down

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