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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: ground · stock · fine · scale · mug · wind · bat · hand

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. bat — the animal
  3. scale — in music
  4. mug — a cup
  5. fine — all right
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mug — a face
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. ground — the earth
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. hand — help
  16. wind — moving air
  17. hand — in cards
  18. mug — to rob
  19. ground — a position
  20. fine — high quality
  21. ground — crushed
  22. stock — goods
  23. wind — moving air
  24. scale — size or range

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