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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 116 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: stock · cap · kick · land · tear · pound

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cap — of ice
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. cap — a hat
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. tear — to rip
  12. stock — goods
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. cap — a lid
  16. pound — a weight
  17. stock — shares
  18. kick — in football

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