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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 116 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: ground · land · race · patient · spring · stock · cabinet · mate

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. race — the arms race
  3. stock — goods
  4. mate — a partner
  5. land — to come down
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. mate — a friend
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. land — a country
  12. spring — a coil
  13. ground — crushed
  14. mate — to breed
  15. spring — the season
  16. stock — shares
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. race — humankind
  19. ground — the earth
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. race — a contest
  23. spring — of water
  24. ground — a position

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