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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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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 · wound · firm · drill · wake · bat · nail · chest

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. stock — goods
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. firm — decided
  9. drill — a practice
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. drill — army training
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. bat — the animal
  17. stock — shares
  18. drill — the tool
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wound — an injury
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. firm — a company
  24. nail — on a finger

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