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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 120 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: firm · tear · bear · band · sharp · mine · degree · stock

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. tear — to rip
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — shares
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. degree — an amount
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. firm — decided
  11. band — a ring
  12. band — a music group
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bear — the animal
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — for digging
  17. degree — from a university
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. stock — goods
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bear — the animal
  23. firm — steady
  24. firm — a company

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