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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: fall · tear · fine · file · bound · stock · court · degree

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fall — to drop
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stock — goods
  5. court — for sport
  6. bound — certain
  7. stock — shares
  8. file — a tool
  9. court — of a king
  10. file — a line of people
  11. bound — tied together
  12. tear — from crying
  13. degree — temperature
  14. tear — to rip
  15. court — of law
  16. degree — from a university
  17. fine — all right
  18. fall — the season
  19. fall — to drop
  20. degree — an amount
  21. file — a document
  22. bound — obliged
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. stock — a soup base

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