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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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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: mine · tear · wave · wind · bay · kid · degree · stock

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. degree — an amount
  5. stock — shares
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. tear — to rip
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stock — goods
  14. mine — for digging
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. tear — from crying
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — child
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. degree — from a university
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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