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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.

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: tear · wound · stock · net · hide · chest · foot · file

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. chest — of your body
  4. net — in sport
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. tear — from crying
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a tool
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. stock — shares
  14. wound — an injury
  15. foot — a measure
  16. tear — to rip
  17. wound — an injury
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. chest — of your body
  21. file — a line of people
  22. stock — goods
  23. chest — a box
  24. tear — from crying

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