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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: season · ground · scale · stock · cabinet · kid · chest · tear

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stock — shares
  3. ground — a position
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. chest — of your body
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. season — in sport
  8. ground — crushed
  9. season — of the year
  10. scale — size or range
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. kid — to tease
  13. chest — a box
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. ground — the earth
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. kid — child
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. stock — goods
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. scale — in music

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