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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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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: stock · track · pound · wave · cold · craft · degree · rest

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. track — a path
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. degree — from a university
  6. rest — what's left
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. pound — a weight
  10. stock — goods
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. track — to keep track
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. track — a song
  17. degree — temperature
  18. stock — shares
  19. cold — an illness
  20. craft — boats
  21. cold — not warm
  22. craft — a skill
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. craft — a handicraft

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