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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: stock · rock · pop · cold · saw · nail · lean · ground

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. pop — soda
  3. stock — goods
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. saw — the tool
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. pop — to visit
  9. rock — music
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — a position
  12. saw — the tool
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. stock — shares
  15. cold — an illness
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. ground — the earth
  18. pop — music
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. lean — thin
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rock — a stone
  24. lean — to bend

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