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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: mine · chair · kid · stock · bark · coach · roll · ruler

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. stock — goods
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. roll — a cake
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. kid — child
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. stock — shares
  21. roll — a list
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. chair — a leader

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