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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: bat · chair · racket · kid · stock · rock · kick · spring

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. stock — goods
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rock — music
  7. stock — shares
  8. spring — of water
  9. chair — a leader
  10. bat — the animal
  11. rock — a stone
  12. kick — in football
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. spring — the season
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kick — with a leg

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