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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
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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 · lie · wind · pop · patient · straw · march · court

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. pop — to visit
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. court — of law
  7. pop — soda
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pop — music
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — for sport
  16. march — the month
  17. lie — to recline
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. stock — goods
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. wind — moving 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