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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. stock — goods
  4. ground — crushed
  5. march — music
  6. stock — shares
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. mark — a grade
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — army training
  11. mark — a trace
  12. march — the month
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. ground — a position
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. march — the month
  17. tear — from crying
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. tear — to rip
  20. degree — from a university
  21. ground — the earth
  22. tear — from crying
  23. toast — bread
  24. drill — a practice

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