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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. track — a path
  3. press — to push
  4. degree — from a university
  5. track — a song
  6. press — a publisher
  7. track — to keep track
  8. press — newspapers
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. court — of law
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. stock — goods
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. clip — a video
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. clip — for paper
  18. court — of a king
  19. craft — a skill
  20. clip — to cut
  21. craft — boats
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. stock — shares
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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