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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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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: wind · degree · rush · wound · land · court · mark · stock

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. rush — hurry
  3. land — to come down
  4. mark — a trace
  5. stock — shares
  6. mark — a grade
  7. court — of law
  8. wind — moving air
  9. court — of a king
  10. wound — an injury
  11. degree — from a university
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. degree — temperature
  14. land — ground
  15. wound — an injury
  16. land — a country
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. stock — goods
  20. degree — an amount
  21. court — for sport
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. wind — moving air

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