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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 116 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 · bowl · game · tear · hand · cabinet · tube · race

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — help
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. race — humankind
  5. tear — to rip
  6. hand — in cards
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. stock — shares
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. game — a match
  16. stock — goods
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. game — wild animals
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. game — a kind of play

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