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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: stock · bass · wind · last · race · pitcher · tear · rash

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. tear — from crying
  3. stock — shares
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. last — finally
  7. race — humankind
  8. wind — moving air
  9. last — final
  10. wind — moving air
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. rash — hasty
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. bass — the fish
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. race — a contest
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. rash — a series
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. race — the arms race
  24. bass — low music

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