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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: wake · wound · stock · race · wind · vault

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. wound — an injury
  4. stock — shares
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. stock — goods
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wake — a trail
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. race — a contest
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. vault — a safe
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. race — the arms race
  16. wound — an injury
  17. race — humankind
  18. wind — moving air

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