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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: stock · cold · mine · firm · root · race

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. firm — steady
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stock — goods
  5. firm — decided
  6. firm — a company
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. race — the arms race
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. cold — an illness
  11. race — a contest
  12. mine — for digging
  13. root — of a plant
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. root — the cause
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stock — shares
  18. root — of a word

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