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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 120 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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rest — a break
  3. rest — what's left
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. march — music
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. net — in sport
  10. march — the month
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pit — a hole
  13. net — for catching
  14. stock — goods
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — child
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. rest — what's left
  20. stock — shares
  21. march — the month
  22. net — after costs
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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