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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: cell · chest · hand · lean · coach · bowl · stock · spell

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. spell — magic
  10. cell — a phone
  11. hand — in cards
  12. stock — shares
  13. lean — thin
  14. spell — letters
  15. lean — to bend
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. spell — a short time
  21. chest — of your body
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. chest — a box
  24. stock — goods

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