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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: season · race · foot · ground · bay · wind · stock · cabinet

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. foot — a measure
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. wind — moving air
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. stock — goods
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. race — the arms race
  9. stock — shares
  10. ground — a position
  11. season — of the year
  12. race — humankind
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. season — in sport
  16. wind — moving air
  17. ground — crushed
  18. race — a contest
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. ground — the earth
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. cabinet — ministers

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