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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: mine · fall · stock · degree · racket · spell · sharp · cold

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fall — to drop
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. sharp — clever
  9. spell — a short time
  10. mine — for digging
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. fall — the season
  14. spell — letters
  15. stock — shares
  16. stock — goods
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. degree — an amount
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. degree — temperature
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. degree — from a university
  24. spell — magic

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