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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 116 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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mark — a trace
  3. net — in sport
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. pop — to visit
  6. current — of water
  7. stock — goods
  8. pop — music
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. file — a tool
  11. current — happening now
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. stock — shares
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. chair — a leader
  16. degree — from a university
  17. mark — a grade
  18. net — after costs
  19. file — a line of people
  20. net — for catching
  21. pop — soda
  22. current — electric
  23. degree — temperature
  24. file — a document

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