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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.

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: chest · stock · stick · shower · roll · kick · tube · rash

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — a series
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. chest — of your body
  9. shower — to wash
  10. roll — a cake
  11. tube — a container
  12. chest — of your body
  13. tube — the underground
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. stock — shares
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. stock — goods
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. kick — in football
  22. roll — a list
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. roll — on a roll

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