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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 116 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: trunk · cold · pitcher · drill · can · patient · stock · row

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. cold — not warm
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. stock — goods
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. can — to be able to
  10. drill — a practice
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. drill — the tool
  13. row — to paddle
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. can — a tin
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. stock — shares
  21. drill — army training
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. can — a tin

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