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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 120 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: arm · cold · pound · lash · stock · straw · degree · ball

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. ball — a great time
  3. stock — shares
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. stock — goods
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. ball — a dance
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. pound — a weight
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — an illness
  23. degree — from a university
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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