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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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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 · chair · fork · fall · stem · pitch · cold · coach

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. chair — a leader
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pitch — completely
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. stem — to come from
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. fork — in a road
  18. stock — shares
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. stock — goods
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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