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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 · land · rash · straw · present · chest · board · sharp

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. board — to get on
  3. land — ground
  4. stock — shares
  5. present — there
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. sharp — clever
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stock — goods
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. rash — a series
  13. present — a gift
  14. chest — of your body
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. board — a committee
  17. chest — a box
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. rash — hasty
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. land — a country
  23. present — the time now
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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