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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: stock · chair · pop · trunk · root · hand · pound · game

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. hand — help
  4. root — of a word
  5. root — of a plant
  6. game — wild animals
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. hand — in cards
  11. pop — music
  12. game — a match
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pop — soda
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. stock — shares
  18. pound — a weight
  19. root — the cause
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. stock — goods
  24. trunk — of a tree

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