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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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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: kick · patient · bowl · sharp · tear · stock · land · chest

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. chest — of your body
  4. sharp — clever
  5. kick — in football
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. stock — shares
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. land — ground
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — a country
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. tear — from crying
  20. stock — goods
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. chest — of your body
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. chest — a box

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