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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 · mug · roll · chest · deal · pop · capital · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. stock — shares
  4. pop — music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chest — of your body
  7. deal — to handle
  8. mug — a cup
  9. roll — a list
  10. mug — a face
  11. capital — money
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. mug — to rob
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chest — a box
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. pop — soda
  21. pop — to visit
  22. stock — goods
  23. roll — a cake
  24. capital — a city

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