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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. degree — an amount
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. rule — a law
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. stock — shares
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. degree — from a university
  11. foot — a measure
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. band — a ring
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stock — goods
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rule — government
  23. squash — to crush
  24. band — a music group

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