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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: bowl · wind · pound · land · dip · squash · kid · stock

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. land — ground
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. pound — a weight
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. wind — moving air
  11. land — a country
  12. land — to come down
  13. dip — to sink
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. stock — shares
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. squash — the sport
  24. kid — to tease

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