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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. pop — to visit
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wake — a trail
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rest — a break
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stock — shares
  14. pop — soda
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. mug — a face
  17. pop — music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. mug — to rob
  23. degree — from a university
  24. mug — a cup

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