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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: ball · snap · file · kid · bulb · cold · stand · stock

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a great time
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — to tease
  7. cold — an illness
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. stand — to bear
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cold — not warm
  15. file — a line of people
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. bulb — for light
  18. file — a tool
  19. stock — shares
  20. bulb — for light
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to click
  23. file — a document
  24. stand — for spectators

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