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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. press — a publisher
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ground — the earth
  6. can — to be able to
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. degree — temperature
  9. stock — goods
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. stock — shares
  12. game — wild animals
  13. can — a tin
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. court — of a king
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. court — of law
  18. wax — to grow
  19. press — newspapers
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — crushed
  22. press — to push
  23. court — for sport
  24. game — a match

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