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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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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: rest · stock · row · wind · game · tear · land · pound

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. tear — to rip
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. land — ground
  5. row — a line
  6. land — a country
  7. rest — what's left
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. rest — what's left
  10. row — to paddle
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. wind — moving air
  13. game — wild animals
  14. tear — from crying
  15. land — to come down
  16. stock — goods
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. rest — a break
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. game — a match
  22. pound — a weight
  23. wind — moving air
  24. row — a quarrel

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