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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wave · tear · cold · mate · fan · scale · stock · ground

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cold — not warm
  3. scale — in music
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stock — shares
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. ground — a position
  10. stock — goods
  11. mate — to breed
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. mate — a partner
  21. ground — crushed
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mate — a friend

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