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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. stock — goods
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. hand — help
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. swing — in golf
  7. ball — a dance
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cell — a phone
  10. ball — a great time
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. stock — shares
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — temperature
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — to play on
  23. cell — in biology
  24. plane — a tool

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