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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. degree — an amount
  7. stock — goods
  8. clip — to cut
  9. season — in sport
  10. clip — a video
  11. fine — high quality
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. fine — all right
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. degree — temperature
  16. vault — a safe
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. wax — to grow
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. season — of the year
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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