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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. degree — temperature
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. band — a ring
  8. press — a publisher
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. pound — a weight
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. stock — shares
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. stock — goods
  15. chair — a leader
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. press — to push
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. band — a music group
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. degree — from a university
  23. press — newspapers
  24. chair — to sit on

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