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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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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 · firm · land · court · arm · race · stock · pass

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. race — humankind
  4. land — ground
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. firm — a company
  7. race — the arms race
  8. court — of a king
  9. firm — decided
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. land — to come down
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. firm — steady
  17. court — for sport
  18. court — of law
  19. pass — a permit
  20. stock — shares
  21. land — a country
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. race — a contest

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