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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: club · bowl · hide · cold · net · root · stock · leaves

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. club — for dancing
  4. net — in sport
  5. stock — goods
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. root — the cause
  10. stock — shares
  11. club — a group
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. club — for golf
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. cold — not warm
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. net — for catching
  20. root — of a word
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. root — of a plant
  23. net — after costs
  24. cold — the Cold War

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