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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. roll — a cake
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. degree — from a university
  5. stock — shares
  6. suit — in cards
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. game — wild animals
  9. field — for sport
  10. stock — goods
  11. suit — to fit
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. content — happy
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. game — a match
  17. suit — clothes
  18. field — a subject
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. field — farmland
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. roll — a list

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