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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. ball — a great time
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. chip — to eat
  5. degree — from a university
  6. cell — a phone
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. chip — for betting
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. cell — in biology
  13. stock — shares
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. stock — goods
  16. ball — a dance
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. degree — temperature

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