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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. sharp — clever
  3. fall — to drop
  4. file — a tool
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fall — the season
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — shares
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. degree — an amount
  13. stock — goods
  14. fall — to drop
  15. file — a line of people
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. file — a document
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. bowl — to roll

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