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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. stock — shares
  3. land — to come down
  4. tear — from crying
  5. land — a country
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. tear — from crying
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. court — of a king
  11. race — the arms race
  12. court — for sport
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. land — ground
  15. court — of law
  16. stock — goods
  17. tear — to rip
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wind — moving air
  20. race — humankind
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. pitch — completely

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