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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. tear — from crying
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. tear — from crying
  9. degree — an amount
  10. hand — in cards
  11. degree — temperature
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — a line
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. tear — to rip
  17. toast — bread
  18. stand — to bear
  19. row — to paddle
  20. degree — from a university
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. fork — in a road
  23. stock — shares
  24. stand — for spectators

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