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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: kick · last · stock · trunk · date · content · mine · hand

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. mine — for digging
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. hand — help
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. kick — in football
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. content — the amount
  15. stock — shares
  16. last — finally
  17. last — to go on
  18. content — happy
  19. hand — in cards
  20. date — the fruit
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. stock — goods
  24. date — on the calendar

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