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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  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. cap — of ice
  2. pound — a weight
  3. stock — shares
  4. cap — a lid
  5. sharp — clever
  6. race — a contest
  7. stock — goods
  8. court — for sport
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. court — of law
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. tear — to rip
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cap — a hat
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. race — humankind
  18. court — of a king
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. tear — from crying
  22. plane — a tool
  23. tear — from crying
  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