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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: fall · kid · mate · mine · cold · saw · stock · roll

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. roll — a list
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mate — to breed
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cold — an illness
  9. kid — child
  10. saw — the tool
  11. kid — to tease
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. saw — the tool
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. mate — a friend
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mate — a partner
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stock — shares
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. roll — a cake

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