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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: stock · fall · rash · bat · cabinet · net · wake · race

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. race — a contest
  3. stock — goods
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — in sport
  9. fall — to drop
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. fall — the season
  13. rash — a series
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. bat — the animal
  16. net — for catching
  17. race — the arms race
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. stock — shares
  21. race — humankind
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. rash — hasty
  24. bat — for baseball

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