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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.

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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: key · cue · stock · wound · field · chest · file · tube

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. field — a subject
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. field — for sport
  6. cue — for pool
  7. stock — goods
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. file — a document
  11. field — farmland
  12. key — in music
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — a container
  15. cue — a signal
  16. stock — shares
  17. key — for a lock
  18. cue — a hint
  19. key — the most important part
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. file — a tool
  24. chest — a box

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