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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: fall · stock · wave · tear · pound · kid · bark · ground

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. fall — to drop
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. ground — crushed
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. stock — goods
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bark — to shout
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kid — child
  15. ground — a position
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. kid — to tease
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. fall — the season
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. tear — to rip
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pound — a weight
  24. pound — to hit hard

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