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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 · can · cold · bound · land · game · fan · wake

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bound — tied together
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. can — to be able to
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. game — a match
  9. stock — goods
  10. stock — shares
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. land — a country
  15. can — a tin
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. bound — obliged
  19. land — to come down
  20. bound — certain
  21. wake — a trail
  22. land — ground
  23. can — a tin
  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