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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 120 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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. degree — from a university
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. game — a match
  5. track — a path
  6. stock — goods
  7. game — wild animals
  8. degree — an amount
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. vault — a safe
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. track — a song
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. mine — for digging
  17. rash — hasty
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. degree — temperature
  20. track — to keep track
  21. stock — shares
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. rash — a series
  24. mine — belonging to me

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