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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. stock — goods
  3. swing — to play on
  4. hand — in cards
  5. degree — an amount
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. swing — music
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. hand — help
  12. scale — in music
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. last — final
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. last — finally
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a ring
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. last — to go on
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. stock — shares

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