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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: stock · chair · squash · fine · cold · game · stand · ruler

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. cold — an illness
  3. squash — to crush
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. stand — to bear
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. fine — all right
  12. cold — not warm
  13. game — a match
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. fine — high quality
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. game — wild animals
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. stock — goods
  23. squash — the sport
  24. stand — for spectators

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