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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wake — a trail
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. degree — from a university
  9. mate — to breed
  10. cell — in biology
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. stock — shares
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rock — a stone
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. degree — temperature
  18. stock — goods
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mate — a partner
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bulb — for light
  24. wake — before a funeral

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