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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. plane — a tool
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. land — a country
  8. stand — to bear
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stock — goods
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. land — to come down
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pound — a weight
  18. degree — an amount
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stock — shares
  22. tear — to rip
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. pound — to hit hard

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