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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: stock · fall · chair · cold · wound · sharp · rule · track

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. track — a song
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. sharp — clever
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. fall — the season
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. track — a path
  11. fall — to drop
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rule — government
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wound — an injury
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. chair — a leader
  19. stock — goods
  20. fall — to drop
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stock — shares
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. track — to keep track

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