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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: can · fan · ground · cold · pound · stock · coach · toast

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. cold — not warm
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. can — a tin
  10. can — to be able to
  11. ground — a position
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. pound — a weight
  20. can — a tin
  21. stock — shares
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. toast — bread
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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