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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: chest · field · file · row · stock · mark · bound · nail

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. mark — a grade
  3. bound — obliged
  4. file — a tool
  5. stock — goods
  6. chest — a box
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. chest — of your body
  9. file — a document
  10. row — a line
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. bound — certain
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. row — to paddle
  15. file — a line of people
  16. mark — a trace
  17. field — for sport
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. chest — of your body
  20. field — farmland
  21. bound — tied together
  22. field — a subject
  23. stock — shares
  24. nail — on a finger

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