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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: kid · key · mate · cold · last · stock · race · pound

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. stock — goods
  3. kid — child
  4. mate — a friend
  5. last — finally
  6. mate — a partner
  7. race — the arms race
  8. key — the most important part
  9. last — to go on
  10. key — in music
  11. race — humankind
  12. key — for a lock
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stock — shares
  16. last — final
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. race — a contest
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pound — a weight
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. cold — not warm

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