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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: land · coach · cold · kick · tube · rush · stock · perch

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. kick — in football
  5. stock — goods
  6. land — ground
  7. land — a country
  8. tube — a container
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. cold — not warm
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. stock — shares
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. land — to come down
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. perch — the fish
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. rush — hurry

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