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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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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: race · chest · fall · hand · bowl · stock · chip · cabinet

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. hand — help
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — the season
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. chip — to eat
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. race — humankind
  10. chest — of your body
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. chip — for betting
  13. hand — in cards
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. chest — a box
  20. race — the arms race
  21. stock — shares
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. stock — goods
  24. race — a contest

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