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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 · tear · cap · ground · game · net · pop · roll

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. net — for catching
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tear — to rip
  7. stock — goods
  8. pop — to visit
  9. cap — a lid
  10. ground — the earth
  11. pop — music
  12. net — after costs
  13. ground — crushed
  14. cap — a hat
  15. pop — soda
  16. game — a match
  17. ground — a position
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. net — in sport
  20. roll — a cake
  21. cap — of ice
  22. roll — a list
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stock — shares

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