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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: staff · pop · cold · spell · march · stock · lean · chest

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. lean — thin
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. staff — a stick
  6. march — the month
  7. stock — shares
  8. staff — employees
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — soda
  11. spell — magic
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pop — music
  15. chest — of your body
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — to bend
  18. march — music
  19. staff — employees
  20. spell — a short time
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. stock — goods
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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