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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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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. land — to come down
  3. tear — from crying
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. root — of a plant
  7. degree — an amount
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. root — of a word
  11. degree — temperature
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. bound — tied together
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. land — ground
  17. degree — from a university
  18. land — a country
  19. bound — certain
  20. root — the cause
  21. stock — shares
  22. bound — obliged
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. racket — for tennis

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