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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: hand · kick · row · stock · cold · rock · ground · bore

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. hand — in cards
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. ground — a position
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. ground — the earth
  7. cold — an illness
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stock — goods
  11. bore — to drill
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. row — a line
  15. cold — not warm
  16. kick — in football
  17. rock — music
  18. ground — crushed
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bore — to tire
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. rock — a stone

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