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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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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: stock · wake · date · sharp · tear · coach · degree · ground

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. tear — from crying
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. sharp — clever
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. date — the fruit
  7. tear — to rip
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. degree — from a university
  12. ground — the earth
  13. stock — shares
  14. ground — crushed
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. ground — a position
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. stock — goods
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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