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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — high quality
  4. degree — an amount
  5. spring — a coil
  6. chair — a leader
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. spell — magic
  11. stock — shares
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stock — goods
  14. staff — employees
  15. spell — letters
  16. staff — employees
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. staff — a stick
  20. stem — to come from
  21. spell — a short time
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — of water

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