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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: race · key · present · fan · perch · tear · cold · stock

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. race — humankind
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stock — shares
  7. key — for a lock
  8. race — the arms race
  9. cold — not warm
  10. key — the most important part
  11. perch — the fish
  12. tear — from crying
  13. present — the time now
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. race — a contest
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. present — a gift
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. key — in music
  21. stock — goods
  22. cold — an illness
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. present — there

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