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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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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: game · tear · stock · capital · trunk · chest · foot · lash

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. tear — from crying
  3. foot — a measure
  4. game — a match
  5. tear — from crying
  6. game — wild animals
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. chest — a box
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. capital — a city
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. stock — goods
  14. tear — to rip
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. capital — money
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. chest — of your body
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. stock — shares

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