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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: squash · coach · stem · stock · kid · bound · wound · date

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. stock — goods
  3. date — the fruit
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. wound — an injury
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. wound — an injury
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — obliged
  20. stock — shares
  21. squash — to crush
  22. bound — tied together
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. kid — to tease

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