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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. object — a thing
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. tear — from crying
  5. object — to protest
  6. field — for sport
  7. stock — shares
  8. field — farmland
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. rock — music
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rock — a stone
  13. clip — for paper
  14. degree — an amount
  15. field — a subject
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — temperature
  22. clip — a video
  23. object — an aim
  24. patient — a sick person

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