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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: mine · last · bore · stock · bay · prune · degree · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. degree — an amount
  4. last — finally
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. stock — shares
  10. last — final
  11. mine — for digging
  12. land — a country
  13. bore — to drill
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. degree — from a university
  19. land — to come down
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. prune — to trim
  22. degree — temperature
  23. last — to go on
  24. bore — to tire

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