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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bound — certain
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. stock — goods
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. degree — from a university
  10. kid — child
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — obliged
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. degree — an amount
  17. spring — a coil
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. spring — the season
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stock — shares
  22. cell — in biology
  23. spring — of water
  24. cell — in a prison

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