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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. stock — goods
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. degree — from a university
  6. staff — employees
  7. degree — temperature
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a music group
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. bound — certain
  13. bound — tied together
  14. spring — of water
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — a stick
  17. bound — obliged
  18. stock — shares
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. board — to get on
  22. spring — a coil
  23. board — a committee
  24. spring — the season

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