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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pass · plane · cold · stand · game · stock · chair · chest

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. stand — to bear
  3. game — a match
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. plane — a tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. chest — of your body
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. chair — a leader
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. chest — a box
  17. stock — shares
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chest — of your body
  20. stock — goods
  21. pass — a permit
  22. game — wild animals
  23. cold — an illness
  24. plane — in geometry

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