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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: coach · ground · land · cue · scale · degree · stock · lash

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. ground — crushed
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. stock — goods
  8. cue — a hint
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. degree — an amount
  11. cue — a signal
  12. land — a country
  13. scale — in music
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. degree — from a university
  16. stock — shares
  17. cue — for pool
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. land — ground
  20. land — to come down
  21. ground — a position
  22. degree — temperature
  23. ground — the earth
  24. scale — size or range

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