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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: ground · field · degree · stock · spell · court · fall · pound

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  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. fall — the season
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. pound — a weight
  4. degree — from a university
  5. stock — shares
  6. degree — temperature
  7. court — of a king
  8. spell — letters
  9. spell — a short time
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. court — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. degree — an amount
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. stock — goods
  17. court — of law
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. fall — to drop
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — crushed
  23. fall — to drop
  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