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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: rule · lean · can · pound · wind · ground · stock · cold

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. ground — crushed
  3. stock — goods
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. can — to be able to
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. ground — a position
  9. lean — to bend
  10. rule — government
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rule — a law
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. lean — thin
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wind — moving air
  18. ground — the earth
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. pound — a weight
  21. wind — moving air
  22. can — a tin
  23. stock — shares
  24. can — a tin

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