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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: bowl · kid · mine · pound · cue · lean · hand · stock

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cue — a signal
  6. stock — goods
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. cue — for pool
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. hand — help
  13. stock — shares
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. cue — a hint
  17. mine — for digging
  18. kid — to tease
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. lean — to bend
  22. kid — child
  23. lean — thin
  24. hand — in cards

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