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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: rest · chest · bark · last · squash · bear · coach · stock

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. stock — shares
  4. rest — what's left
  5. squash — the sport
  6. last — finally
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. stock — goods
  13. last — to go on
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. squash — to crush
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. rest — a break
  18. chest — a box
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rest — what's left
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bark — to shout

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