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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: roll · racket · stock · fine · cold · key · land · ground

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. land — a country
  3. ground — a position
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stock — goods
  6. key — for a lock
  7. fine — all right
  8. key — the most important part
  9. fine — high quality
  10. ground — crushed
  11. key — in music
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. land — to come down
  14. stock — shares
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. land — ground
  19. cold — not warm
  20. roll — a cake
  21. roll — a list
  22. ground — the earth
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. racket — for tennis

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