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

Word bank: tear · staff · mark · cold · kick · stock

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. kick — in football
  3. stock — shares
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mark — a trace
  7. staff — employees
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. mark — a grade
  12. tear — from crying
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stock — goods
  18. staff — a stick

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