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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — goods
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. root — of a word
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. wax — to grow
  7. season — of the year
  8. land — a country
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. bulb — for light
  13. root — the cause
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — from a university
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. root — of a plant
  18. degree — an amount
  19. land — ground
  20. bulb — for light
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. land — to come down
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. pitcher — a jug

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