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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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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. mate — to breed
  4. current — of water
  5. stock — shares
  6. degree — temperature
  7. spring — the season
  8. current — happening now
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. spring — of water
  13. current — electric
  14. mate — a friend
  15. hand — help
  16. spring — a coil
  17. stock — goods
  18. hand — in cards

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