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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 120 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: wind · bear · stock · race · straw · court · tear · press

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. stock — goods
  3. race — the arms race
  4. court — for sport
  5. stock — shares
  6. press — to push
  7. press — newspapers
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bear — the animal
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. press — a publisher
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. court — of a king
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bear — the animal
  23. wind — moving air
  24. tear — to rip

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