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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: stock · ball · sharp · spring · cabinet · pound · patient · kid

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. pound — a weight
  3. kid — to tease
  4. ball — a great time
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. ball — a dance
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. spring — the season
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. spring — of water
  12. stock — goods
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. sharp — clever
  15. kid — child
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pound — for dogs
  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