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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 120 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: cold · mate · file · stock · rush · foot · fan · leaves

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. mate — to breed
  3. stock — shares
  4. rush — hurry
  5. foot — a measure
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. file — a tool
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. mate — a partner
  19. file — a document
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. mate — a friend
  22. file — a line of people
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fan — to cool the air

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