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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 116 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: stock · sharp · cold · branch · pop · coach · key · squash

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. stock — goods
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. pop — music
  5. squash — the sport
  6. sharp — clever
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. pop — soda
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. key — the most important part
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. cold — not warm
  13. branch — a division
  14. pop — to visit
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. stock — shares
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. key — for a lock
  22. key — in music
  23. squash — to crush
  24. coach — a trainer

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