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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 · rule · tube · mine · pound · cold · swing · trunk

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. tube — a container
  5. rule — a law
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. swing — music
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. rule — government
  16. mine — for digging
  17. stock — shares
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. swing — to play on
  22. pound — a weight
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. swing — in golf

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