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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. suit — clothes
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — goods
  5. degree — from a university
  6. ground — a position
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. ground — crushed
  13. suit — to fit
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — an amount
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a music group
  18. stock — shares
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bat — the animal
  23. suit — in cards
  24. field — farmland

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