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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. net — after costs
  3. mark — a trace
  4. kid — to tease
  5. degree — temperature
  6. field — for sport
  7. degree — from a university
  8. field — a subject
  9. squash — to crush
  10. field — farmland
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. fall — the season
  13. stock — goods
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. kid — child
  16. degree — an amount
  17. stock — shares
  18. mark — a grade
  19. fall — to drop
  20. squash — the sport
  21. net — in sport
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. fall — to drop

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