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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: wind · bore · stand · degree · stock · race

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. bore — to tire
  4. race — the arms race
  5. wind — moving air
  6. degree — from a university
  7. wind — moving air
  8. stock — goods
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bore — to drill
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stock — shares
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. degree — temperature
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. stand — on your feet

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