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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: shower · rock · bound · stock · hand · trunk · stand · file

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. hand — help
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. shower — to wash
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bound — obliged
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. stock — goods
  10. stand — to bear
  11. bound — certain
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. hand — in cards
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. shower — rain
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. rock — a stone
  18. file — a document
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. file — a tool
  21. bound — tied together
  22. stock — shares
  23. file — a line of people
  24. rock — to move gently

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