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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: stock · hand · wave · fan · ground · straw · degree · dip

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. stock — goods
  9. ground — the earth
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. degree — temperature
  13. stock — shares
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — crushed
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. dip — to sink
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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