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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. stock — shares
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stock — goods
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. kid — child
  7. cold — not warm
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. board — a committee
  11. kid — to tease
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. bass — low music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. degree — temperature
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. board — to get on
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — from a university

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