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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: rest · land · coach · stock · chest · cue · fine · rule

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. cue — a signal
  3. land — ground
  4. rest — a break
  5. fine — all right
  6. rest — what's left
  7. land — a country
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. cue — for pool
  10. chest — a box
  11. rule — government
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cue — a hint
  14. chest — of your body
  15. land — to come down
  16. fine — high quality
  17. stock — shares
  18. stock — goods
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rule — a law
  24. chest — of your body

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