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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: plane · object · stock · coach · cold · degree · clip · pound

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. object — to protest
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. degree — an amount
  8. object — a thing
  9. stock — goods
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. cold — an illness
  13. degree — from a university
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cold — not warm
  18. clip — a video
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — shares
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. plane — a tool
  23. degree — temperature
  24. object — an aim

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