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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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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. degree — from a university
  5. stand — to bear
  6. stock — shares
  7. degree — an amount
  8. content — happy
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. content — the amount
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rush — hurry
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cold — an illness
  19. band — a ring
  20. kid — child
  21. band — a music group
  22. stock — goods
  23. kid — to tease
  24. rush — to hurry

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