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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: toast · spring · stock · vault · ground · sharp · pitcher · race

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. ground — the earth
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. vault — a safe
  6. ground — a position
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. race — a contest
  13. ground — crushed
  14. spring — of water
  15. sharp — clever
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — humankind
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. toast — bread
  23. stock — goods
  24. toast — the most admired

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