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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: cold · cap · bay · stock · pop · lie · land · saw

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — goods
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. land — ground
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cap — a hat
  7. cap — a lid
  8. land — to come down
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. pop — to visit
  12. saw — the tool
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cap — of ice
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. pop — soda
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. pop — music
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. lie — to recline
  23. land — a country
  24. saw — the tool

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