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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: content · chair · pound · stock · date · stand · cold · fan

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. stock — shares
  3. cold — not warm
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — the fruit
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pound — a weight
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. content — happy
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. stand — to bear
  20. cold — an illness
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. content — the amount
  24. chair — a leader

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