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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. pass — a permit
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. degree — temperature
  6. perch — the fish
  7. capital — money
  8. land — to come down
  9. capital — a city
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. stock — goods
  12. stock — shares
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. land — ground
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a leader
  19. land — a country
  20. bark — to shout
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. stock — a soup base

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