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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. suit — clothes
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. hand — help
  6. suit — in cards
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. bore — to drill
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bore — to tire
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. land — a country
  14. hand — in cards
  15. degree — an amount
  16. land — ground
  17. wax — to grow
  18. band — a music group
  19. land — to come down
  20. suit — to fit
  21. degree — from a university
  22. band — a ring
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stock — goods

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