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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: tear · stock · leaves · race · ground · content · perch · pound

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. race — humankind
  3. stock — shares
  4. ground — crushed
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. stock — goods
  7. pound — a weight
  8. race — a contest
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. tear — from crying
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. content — happy
  16. perch — the fish
  17. race — the arms race
  18. content — the amount
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. tear — to rip
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. tear — from crying

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