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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 116 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: tear · degree · wake · spring · stock · saw · ground · safe

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. stock — goods
  5. saw — the tool
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. spring — a coil
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. wake — a trail
  12. ground — a position
  13. spring — the season
  14. degree — from a university
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. stock — shares
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. ground — the earth
  19. degree — an amount
  20. tear — from crying
  21. spring — of water
  22. tear — to rip
  23. ground — crushed
  24. saw — the tool

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