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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. net — for catching
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. tear — from crying
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. firm — steady
  8. net — after costs
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. key — in music
  11. key — for a lock
  12. net — in sport
  13. key — the most important part
  14. stock — goods
  15. land — ground
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. firm — a company
  18. chair — a leader
  19. land — a country
  20. degree — temperature
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. firm — decided
  24. land — to come down

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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