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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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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: club · ground · prune · stock · bay · degree · wind · mate

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ground — a position
  3. prune — to trim
  4. degree — an amount
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. mate — to breed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. ground — crushed
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mate — a friend
  14. degree — from a university
  15. stock — goods
  16. mate — a partner
  17. club — for golf
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. stock — shares
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. degree — temperature
  22. club — a group
  23. club — for dancing
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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