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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: stock · present · degree · stand · straw · jam · cold · fork

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. present — there
  5. stock — shares
  6. present — a gift
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cold — an illness
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. stock — goods
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. degree — temperature
  17. present — the time now
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. stand — to bear
  22. degree — from a university
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. cold — the Cold War

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