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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wind · degree · game · spell · stock · pound · ground · bowl

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. spell — a short time
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. degree — an amount
  9. stock — shares
  10. spell — letters
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. ground — the earth
  15. stock — goods
  16. game — wild animals
  17. spell — magic
  18. game — a match
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. degree — temperature

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