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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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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: rest · tear · land · file · stock · row · coach · rule

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. stock — goods
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. land — to come down
  5. tear — to rip
  6. row — a line
  7. rest — what's left
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rule — a law
  12. file — a tool
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rest — a break
  15. land — ground
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. row — to paddle
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. stock — shares
  21. tear — from crying
  22. file — a document
  23. land — a country
  24. rule — government

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